CELTA Culminates

It's over. After the last assignments, the final lesson on grammar on Thursday (which went super well--ask me if you ever want to know how to do a rocking Guided Discovery for Quantifiers [a few, a couple, none, all]), the nitpicky form-filling in my CELTA 5 official document, the juggling of CELTA and reviewing my contract for working at Posh English École in İzmir (EEZ-meer), it's over. I am tired.

It was sad to leave everyone on Friday evening. We all stood around, not really knowing how to depart. After four insane weeks with each other, we know each other--but we don't know each other. Some of us have made promises to visit wherever (everyone is stoked to have a floor to sleep on in Turkey), but who knows if we'll actually come through. One of the girls had these really fabulous t-shirts made with a CELTA joke on them: "I CCQ. Do you?" (** See explanation of CCQ below**) We all bought one and got them as surprises for the trainers, too. All the trainees wore them on Friday morning and when the trainers walked into the room, they laughed. When we gave them their own shirts, they were like, "Oh I'm totally wearing that to the next conference..." Group photos in the shirt were obligatory. Check it out. We look like we belong in a cult.

CCQ's Defined
CCQ stands for Concept Checking Question, and it's the bane of every CELTA trainee's life. We are supposed to CCQ our students whenever we are teaching them new vocabulary or grammatical structures in order to make sure that they understand. We are NOT supposed to ask, "Do you understand?" or "Does that make sense?" because they often don't have the language skills required to answer. In essence, you have to trick them into answering with easy-to-answer questions.

Correct way to use CCQ: "He used to smoke. Did he smoke in the past? Did he smoke regularly? Does he smoke now?"

Incorrect way to use CCQ: "He didn't know whether he was coming or going. Was he coming? Was he going? Did he know?"


Miscellaneous Maundering
I hope that everything works out with my contract. I am afraid to think it will come off flawlessly. I would begin on September 15th--a date that is close enough to know is real. I don't know when I would get a plane ticket but hopefully for a few days before that so that I can settle in and regain my humanity after grueling international travel.

I'm driving back to California on Monday--wish I could be there sooner. For now I will enjoy my last days (or first days, in some ways...) in Denver. I went to a great bookstore this morning and found a Turkish/English dictionary--a rare item. Maybe I'll get back in the saddle with the Rosetta Stone and Turkish. Or catch up on Turkish current events. Or go to a park and read my humdrum history books in the shade. I know, I'm such a bore.