Learning to learn

I've spent the majority of the past two weeks in class learning grammar, phonetics, teaching methods and techniques and other teacher-related things.

The first half of class every day is dedicated to the above mentioned topics. We have been reviewing grammar tenses (Do YOU know how to construct a past perfect continuous sentence?), rules, and parts of speech (thank goodness for School House Rock), as well as how to spell words in phonemic script, which is to say how to spell a word using the pronunciation symbols you find in a dictionary (Do YOU know how to write in /fəˈni:mɪk/ script?). Those lessons are then paired with how to teach them. We learn teaching methods, learning techniques, exercises, and even some games (I ROCK at grammar battleship). 


This part of the course is really important. If not only for the sake that I should know the crap that I am supposedly teaching to other people, but moreover to learn how other people learn. When the trainers are going over grammar points, I not only take notes on the grammar lesson but I also take notes on how they are teaching it to me. What did they write on the board? What did they say aloud? What did they emphasize? What helped me to remember that rule? What questions did my classmates ask? All of these, although not explicitly said by the trainers in the course, are important to consider because in a few short weeks, that's going to be me, and it won't be enough to simply know that in English, we add an auxiliary verb form of 'do' when forming a question. I will also have to know why and how to teach it to someone. 

So the class is actually quite exhausting because I am simultaneously learning things for myself and for others. And although we do have parts of the class when the trainers explicitly talk to us about various teaching methods and exercises or games that work well in the classroom, I think these other grammar and phonetics lessons which may seem dull are just as informative and useful. So yes, I will continue to be the nerd in the class constantly nodding my head and furiously scribbling in my notebook.

Knowledge is power, after all.