Pandathon 1992
After being made redundant for the second time in 7 years I decided to re-train as an English teacher. Despite being obviously quite thick at school or rather crap at remembering stuff for exams, I managed to talk myself onto an accredited course at a large training centre in London. As I wasn't already a teacher of some kind, and also didn't have at least an undergraduate degree, I had to prove that I could do the course in an interview. The CTEFLA course is very hard and intensive. I passed and armed with my qualification I began looking for jobs. Only a month but learning and teaching everyday was very hard. I began to search the EFL ads in the Times Education Supplement and the Guardian newspapers. I then ran into rampant ageism. At 37 I was "too old" to compete with younger, often graduates, who with no experience of life away from mummy and daddy would be better suited. And possibly cheaper. I applied for loads of jobs across the UK and in EU Europe. ...