To celebrate my 54^th birthday I decided to challenge myself with something completely new: catamaran sailing! I probably have more reasons NOT to than to go for something sooo new and challenging: I’m sea sick, have hypermobility, I’m not a good swimmer, but I wanted to really challenge myself, so I did.

I took a 3 day course in Soma Bay, Egypt. After a trial lesson I was hooked! What an exciting sport!!! The 3 day curse was morning and afternoon lessons, with an exam at the end for the certificate.

The excitement was quickly accompanied by pains, bruises and a tiredness…but I kept saying to myself: you can do it!!! And I did it!!!! I’ve got my certificate and, as soon as the wind allows, I’ll go for my first solo cat sail.

Although cat sailing couldn’t be more different from language teaching, I observed the structure and delivery of the course. These are some points, I believe, should never be ignored when teaching or training:

• Know your students: get to know who they are, their fears and their expectations.
• Present the course objectives: what are your students going to learn and how – theory v practice.
• Introduce jargon: communication is always key!!! Teaching the necessary jargon is essential, especially if your students will be required to use it.
• Be consistent in language: use the jargon and don’t introduce lots of other options.
• Follow through: if the course ends with a text or exam, make sure you cover all the test’s topics.
• Practice and consolidation: it’s really not enough to say something to your students and considered that as TAUGHT! Include practice and consolidation time in your course.
• Constructive feedback: allow students to learn from their mistakes. This stage is key for students to understand and deepen their learning.

A course ending with a test needs to look like a circle, where your end point coincides with your starting  point.

For sure, I truly enjoyed the experience and learnt so much about cat sailing and myself. However, had I not have the initiative and skills to study by myself between lessons, I doubt I would have passed the end of course exam.

In conclusion, a teacher may be an expert in his/her field but this is not enough to be a good teacher: pedagogy is just as important as subject knowledge. So “Lee ho!!!” and include teaching styles, feedback, and assessment in your courses. And, if you are a student, go for your dreams, challenge yourself: it can be great fun!!!

Written by Lara Panzini

About the author

Lara Panzini started her carrier in education as a qualified primary school teacher. She holds a BSc (First Class Honours) Professional Studies from London University – Academic research methods applied to the workplace. She specialised in language teaching by obtaining a TEFL certificate and a certificate in Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language, RSA Diploma in Teaching Foreign Language to Adults (DTFLA), RSA Assessor Award: Training and Development (NCVQ: Level 3) and is a Business Cultural Trainer.