Post by Gregory Grove on Jun 10, 2010 10:06:30 GMT -5
Hey,
nice to hear from someone who might be going to Chachapoyas!
To be honest it's been quite a long time since I was there, and I'm not sure how much will have changed - is Vanessa still even working there? I guess it's also important to point out that I think everyone has quite a different experience there; I worked for them for four months, and even within that time had completely different experience depending on who I was working with, what was going on in the local community and who happened to be passing through that part of the world...
OK, so on the cultural experience and the Spanish: ILC is pretty good for this, because (although Chachapoyas isn't anywhere close to being a stronghold of indigenous culture or whatever) it really allows you to become part of the town, get to know local people/shops etc, and it's pretty rare to find good English speakers (outside the language school itself, of course!). On the other hand, there's normally at least one or two native other teachers there, and it can be quite easy to slip into the habit of speaking English with them the whole time. I think it probably depends on the level of your Spanish when you go.
Seclusion: ok, so Chacha is far away from the major big cities, but it's also not the smallest place in the world. I mean you can get most stuff you'd need, and there are lots of cafes and bars and internet places etc. And it's actually kinda nice to be in somewhere that's small enough to be basically really safe, especially compared to the big cities.
And travel on the weekend is easy enough...I mean the proper cities are a bit far, but there's all kinds of interesting places to go around Chacha, and a couple of slightly bigger towns that you can get to in a few hours. You also have the bits at the end of each month when you might have about five days, which is enough to get a night bus to Chiclayo on the coast, or visit some of the other more touristy places in the north. (I tried to make it to Ecuador and back once...almost successfully) And you'll feel less secluded if you try and make friends outside the school
Favourite part....errr, that's kinda difficult. I had lots of really good times. And there's some pretty good cake in Chachapoyas. I guess the best part is the gradual realisation that you feel completely at home in new place/community that's probably quite different to any place you've called home before...
English teaching: (this might be really different if Vanessa isn't there cos she was probably the biggest help with guidance and generally a really amazing teacher) The level of formal direction is pretty low. You'll be given a book (depending what groups you're teaching) and be told which units they need to complete by the end of the month. The books normally have teaching guides too, which can be really useful.
If this is your first time teaching, it might seem a bit intimidating, but when you get used to it it means you have actually a lot more freedom and room to be creative. And there'll always be other teachers around for you to share ideas, and discuss problems. You can also go in and watch other people's classes (if possible I'd recommend trying to arrive maybe even a week before you're supposed to start teaching - you might have to stay in a hotel or whatever but it's probably worth it to just get to know the school and the town a bit and watch some classes.
I had one day there before I started teaching. A bit scary. And then suddenly a week had gone by and I realised that the whole time I hadn't been anywhere that wasn't on the three roads betwen the house and the school).
General advice about teaching I'd just say plan plan plan. It makes such a difference. And means you can come up with little games and stuff to make it all more fun.
Downsides despite what I said about the town not feeling too secluded, I think life within ILC itself can become pretty insular and intense. I don't know if it still works in the same way, but when I was there it was much easier to be living with Vanessa, Fidel and the other teachers than in a flat of your own. which means that while you get to know them all really well and make some great friends you can end up spending a lot of time with the same few people and maybe feeling like you can't get away from work ever. And maybe the house isn't so nice (if it's the same as before, I know they've been looking for another one) But if you have good connections outside the school then it'll be fine; the good things definitely outweigh the bad.
The other thing I'd really recommend is allowing time to do a bit of travelling after you've been in Chachapoyas. And try and see more places in the north, although I'm sure the more well-known stuff in the south is cool too.
nice to hear from someone who might be going to Chachapoyas!
To be honest it's been quite a long time since I was there, and I'm not sure how much will have changed - is Vanessa still even working there? I guess it's also important to point out that I think everyone has quite a different experience there; I worked for them for four months, and even within that time had completely different experience depending on who I was working with, what was going on in the local community and who happened to be passing through that part of the world...
OK, so on the cultural experience and the Spanish: ILC is pretty good for this, because (although Chachapoyas isn't anywhere close to being a stronghold of indigenous culture or whatever) it really allows you to become part of the town, get to know local people/shops etc, and it's pretty rare to find good English speakers (outside the language school itself, of course!). On the other hand, there's normally at least one or two native other teachers there, and it can be quite easy to slip into the habit of speaking English with them the whole time. I think it probably depends on the level of your Spanish when you go.
Seclusion: ok, so Chacha is far away from the major big cities, but it's also not the smallest place in the world. I mean you can get most stuff you'd need, and there are lots of cafes and bars and internet places etc. And it's actually kinda nice to be in somewhere that's small enough to be basically really safe, especially compared to the big cities.
And travel on the weekend is easy enough...I mean the proper cities are a bit far, but there's all kinds of interesting places to go around Chacha, and a couple of slightly bigger towns that you can get to in a few hours. You also have the bits at the end of each month when you might have about five days, which is enough to get a night bus to Chiclayo on the coast, or visit some of the other more touristy places in the north. (I tried to make it to Ecuador and back once...almost successfully) And you'll feel less secluded if you try and make friends outside the school
Favourite part....errr, that's kinda difficult. I had lots of really good times. And there's some pretty good cake in Chachapoyas. I guess the best part is the gradual realisation that you feel completely at home in new place/community that's probably quite different to any place you've called home before...
English teaching: (this might be really different if Vanessa isn't there cos she was probably the biggest help with guidance and generally a really amazing teacher) The level of formal direction is pretty low. You'll be given a book (depending what groups you're teaching) and be told which units they need to complete by the end of the month. The books normally have teaching guides too, which can be really useful.
If this is your first time teaching, it might seem a bit intimidating, but when you get used to it it means you have actually a lot more freedom and room to be creative. And there'll always be other teachers around for you to share ideas, and discuss problems. You can also go in and watch other people's classes (if possible I'd recommend trying to arrive maybe even a week before you're supposed to start teaching - you might have to stay in a hotel or whatever but it's probably worth it to just get to know the school and the town a bit and watch some classes.
I had one day there before I started teaching. A bit scary. And then suddenly a week had gone by and I realised that the whole time I hadn't been anywhere that wasn't on the three roads betwen the house and the school).
General advice about teaching I'd just say plan plan plan. It makes such a difference. And means you can come up with little games and stuff to make it all more fun.
Downsides despite what I said about the town not feeling too secluded, I think life within ILC itself can become pretty insular and intense. I don't know if it still works in the same way, but when I was there it was much easier to be living with Vanessa, Fidel and the other teachers than in a flat of your own. which means that while you get to know them all really well and make some great friends you can end up spending a lot of time with the same few people and maybe feeling like you can't get away from work ever. And maybe the house isn't so nice (if it's the same as before, I know they've been looking for another one) But if you have good connections outside the school then it'll be fine; the good things definitely outweigh the bad.
The other thing I'd really recommend is allowing time to do a bit of travelling after you've been in Chachapoyas. And try and see more places in the north, although I'm sure the more well-known stuff in the south is cool too.