Moving forward, English and No Mattress - not taking it lying down!

Its been about a week since I last wrote on the blog. And things move forward.

Ive not heard much about my approach to my employer about voluntary redundancy. I m waiting for HR to get back to me so I'm in limbo a bit about it. I should play it a bit cagey I suppose, but I'm such a blabber mouth I have told quite a few people. I need to shut up cos it could cost me a settlement if I don't get offered it.

I've been good and started doing my TEFL course, Ive done two of the online tests and passed those and have done my first written assignment which goes off to a tutor for assessment - yes a real human being looks at the work.  I passed that also. I was a bit nervous, its been a while since I was a 'student' of any sort. It wasn't that hard, basically asking about teaching methods, I'm more nervous about when we get to the actual grammar bits of the course.

I have started on the grammar module and am learning (for the first time in my life) all about nouns and pronouns and verbs and tenses and stuff like that. It sounds pretty straight forward but I can hear myself tutoring undergraduate sociology students about their poor grammar and badly structured essays. Telling them that verbally 'we are all expert English users and that all one has to do is read the work out aloud to find out where they were going wrong'. Hmmmm. Actually having to learn the nuts and bolts for real is a bit scary to me - I feel a bit like I feel about mathematics, really never grasping the main principles.

Its also surprising how many people seem to know people who are working as English teachers or have worked as English teachers in China. I have, in the last week, been given two email addresses of people. One off my uncle who knows someone teaching in China, I have contacted them. There is also, via a guy I chat to when dog walking, a guy who lives in France, who has a Chinese wife, who works on a Chinese TV news programme and who I am told will be a good contact.

Not put the house on the market, but am going to start putting my goods and chattels on eBay, cos they all need to go, I'm not storing stuff. I'm not actually 'emotionally attached' to stuff so I don't mind it going. All I'll keep is my personal/historical stuff - snapshots (from the olden days before digital), papers stuff like that - all the rest can go.

I'm currently debating whether or not its worth buying a mattress. For reasons to complicated to go into my mattress is now being used by a paying lodger and I'm using my settee. The settee is quite comfortable actually and I'm sleeping quite well. But is it worth buying a mattress, most of them seem to be over £150 and that's only for a cheap one.  I don't really want to contemplate buying or acquiring a secondhand one. I know we use hotel beds without a blink - but every night? I don't know.

Out of the mouth of babes...

So yesterday I had driven to Bristol to go into a school to carry out two focus groups for work. En route home I had to go via Okehampton to pick up my daughter and her grandmother to bring them to Plymouth where her mum was showing in an art show.

Anyway, the discussion in the front of the car turned to China and the TEFL course I had registered on. In an earlier blog I had mentioned that I was a bit worried that I didn't really know much about grammar and I said in the blog that I couldn't actually remember being taught grammar at school.

I had mentioned this to the head of science at the school I was at over a cup of tea in the staff room earlier that day. He told me that he had had the same experience and in the 1960's teaching grammar was out of fashion. He said that it had driven his mum barmy and she had been constantly on at his school about it.

So that had solved the mystery of my lack of knowledge about grammar. I was thinking that either the school was crap or I had been spectacularly dim. It was strange because I could remember being good at English, especially with my writing, being told I had a 'good imagination' (and that's what comes of being a reader I believe). (I guess my parents were not that bothered)

So with that mystery solved I was recounting the story to grandmum who was sitting in the front of the car with me. The story then moved on to discussing bits of grammar like nouns, verbs etc. I mentioned that I didn't know much about them and in fact had only just found out about things like the past participle and the gerund.

Then out of the back of the car came. 'Daddy are you talking about a 'gerund'?' she's says correcting my pronunciation of the word. I say 'yes' in a surprised manner. Daughter then goes on to explain to the amazed adults in the front of the car what a gerund is and how it is used.

Daughter is 12.

Who says British education is crap?

Eeerm OK!

As I mentioned I have already discussed the prospects of me taking voluntary redundancy with my director.

I'm a bit amused that yesterday (Wednesday) the day after I had my first chat with my director she told me that HR are prepared to discuss the condition of me taking VR.

Well blow me down with a feather. I know I raised the issue and was wondering what the response would be. But I wasn't quite ready for them getting back to me quite so quickly.

I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

Some more background here. About two years ago my employer tried to make me redundant. Trouble was it was an atrociously hamfisted knee-jerk of an attempt. They told me one Friday I was 'at risk' and was give a date when I would go. The following Friday i was told 'Hurrah you've got your job back!'. (there's more to this story but this is the short version).

So once I had got over the shock and got myself off the anti-depressants (only one year) I haven't been feeling that secure in my job. These feelings of insecurity has shown itself in me getting twitchy if I think people are attempting to undermine my role. So I have had little confidence in managers telling me my job is safe and we are in for interesting and exciting times in the Market Research arena.

So I'm insecure and see 'attacks' against my role in what are probably, in most cases, innocent day to day activities in a large organization.

But nevertheless various managers know about my insecurity (I have told them this) and they have gone out of their way to reassure me that my job was safe and it would be more important and involved etc.

So that's why I'm a bit amused at what I see to be a quick response. (perhaps they really were gonna get rid of me thus proving my hypothesis) This is probably some residual cynicism leaking out. And I really did think it would take longer.

This isn't a complaint.

I guess I might have to redraw my mental time line.

First steps...

Having spoken to one of the agencies that place English teachers in China it soon became apparent that I wouldn't be able to blag a position on the basis of my PhD. Whilst it is possible to get work simply having a British degree in China, I was told that most of the time this is done illegally on tourist visas or at poor quality schools.

What is needed to get a bona fide work permit to teach English in China is a 120 hour TEFL certificate. (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). So last night I registered and paid to do such a course with an online company called i to i (they are here)

Of course it wasn't until after hours after registering for the course that I realised that I, myself, was crap at English! And that is despite having a decent degree and a PhD - thank god for Word and computers.

A little bit of background here.

I went to a secondary modern for boys school in the late 1960's. It was called Walliscote Secondary Modern Schools for boys and it was in Weston Super Mare. In the 1960's in Secondary Modern Schools I don't think grammar was taught. At least I cannot remember being taught it and in fact I know very little about English grammar. Secondary Modern schools were there to churn out workers. Fodder for the factories. And yes, I entered a factory at 15 as an apprentice.

So I have little conception about what a verb, noun, adjective is. No idea what a 'past participle' is and have only just found out that there is something called a 'gerund' (or 'A traditional grammatical term for a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun.) (I'm still confused)

So even though I'm a bit scared of the English and of being a student of English grammar but its still exciting. I have 90 days to do the courses, before I suppose in a quasi mission impossible way the internet course self destructs.

I am on day 89!

The first day of the rest of my life.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Today I had a meeting with my director and asked if I could be considered for voluntary redundancy. Whilst she didn't say yes or no, she said she will put it to HR. So I guess I am in with a chance.

I work in a British university, not on the academic side, although I was once a sociologist and taught sociology here, I am now on the admin side. In the current climate of financial cutbacks in HE I am probably in the firing line anyway, they did try unsuccessfully to make me redundant about 3 years ago, so I was not holding my breath this time. But I have decided to be the master of my own future and to apply for the voluntary redundancy.

So this blog is going to chart my new start.

First Steps:

I have already, as I have noted, discussed this with my Director and we await the outcome.

I have already had my house valued and will put it up for sale shortly.

And my aim, for my future, is to teach English in China initially and hopefully see some of the world before my old bones succumb.

I have sourced a TEFL course for the 120 hour certificate I will need to teach English

So this is is.

This is the start........the first blog post, obviously more to come.

You can follow me as well on twitter as @trebornotrub