Conference in San José

The group got to San José yesterday and we've been attending the national conference of Costa Rican English teachers. It's a really strange experience, because most of the teachers in attendence are Costa Ricans (yeah, makes sense...). The reason this is strange, is because this huge group of English teachers has an average level of English that is a bit lower than I would expect from teachers.

In one extreme case, I was in a workshop with a teacher who couldn't hold a conversation in English with me. In less extreme cases, many teachers seemed to have a fairly decent technical knowledge of the language, but very little cultural knowledge and poor accents. While some might condemn me for having the audacity to expect Costa Rican English teachers to have achieved at least near-fluency before being allowed to teach, I feel that I'm correct in my belief that one must master a subject before teaching it.

One thing that I've definitely noticed at this conference is how much I've learned in just the past two weeks of the SIT TESOL course. After just two weeks in my TESOL program, I feel like one of the more knowledgable people at this conference, and have encountered few new ideas that had not already been covered by my trainers. I'm not sure if this is an indication of SIT's professionalism or the generally low level of English excellence in Costa Rica. It's probably both. One thing is for sure: I made the right decision in coming to the SIT TESOL program here in Costa Rica. I have learned an incredible amount in a very short time - and half the course is still to come!

We'll head back to El INVU - the small town where our school is located - this Saturday. Once there, I'll have to busy myself to prepare a reflection for the past week, as well as get ready to teach class this coming week. I'm sure I'll be super stressed once again in no time. However, for the moment, I'm feeling relaxed, tranquilo. I think I'll head out tonight and check out the town. I really like San José, actually better than any other place I've been in Costa Rica up to this point. It's a city, which would normally turn me off, but the people here are just so incredible. The women are beautiful and coquettish, most people are generally friendly and helpful and the drivers, although completely insane, will sometimes stop for pedestrians. I actually like it better here than in the small towns.