Some Ways to Write Good Cover Letter

Teaching English abroad is a booming opportunity for any native English or experienced teachers. Even though you can land a job without a bachelor's degree or TEFL certificate, getting a good teaching job overseas has become extremely competitive due to the overwhelming number of applicants for a single position. First impressions are critical, and your cover is your first and probably your only opportunity to catch a recruiter's attention. Often overlooked and sometimes completely neglected, cover letters are the perfect companion to your CV, but are not your CV and should not read like one.

This vital asset to your resume demonstrates your writing style, and since you are applying for a teaching job overseas, needs to be meticulously crafted, and not just a repetition of the obvious. In a perfect world, an employer has to sift through 100's of applications casting an eye over each one so you literally have 30 seconds to get noticed. Providing a cover letter encourages an employer to read all the things that are otherwise fitted into a resumes rigid factual structure, and this rather focused sales pitch must be unique and address the specific requirements of the individual job positing.

Before you start composing your cover letter, take note that it has to be directed towards the overseas job market, and hence must fulfill a few often overlooked criteria. Do remember that although you are applying for an English teaching job overseas, the recruiter may not be well versed in the language hence it is recommended that you also translate your cover letter, resume, etc into the local language and ensure that it fits the local format. Employers overseas generally prefer to get an up close and personal view of the candidate so attaching a professional photo somewhere in your cover letter or resume is a good idea.

The first most and foremost aspect to mention in your cover letter is why you are choosing that specific country overseas to teach. Things to elaborate on in this section are your compatibility with the local language, people and cuisine. Refrain from mentioning things related to vibrant social life such as partying, beaches, or anything that would make you seem like a backpacker who's going to disappear at the first inconvenience.

Paragraph two should contain information about your background, but not a repeat of your resume. You can mention your travelling, coaching, and even your TELF or CELTA course experiences. The last paragraph should be a summary of your teaching plans and any hobbies that might prove your interest in the area such as museums, archeological sites, etc. Skip lengthy exposition and take note that not everyone has Microsoft Office, but everyone can open a PDF file. Final pointers include sounding pompous, avoid using catch phrases, and abbreviations. Take the time to read your cover letter over and ensure there are no syntax or punctuation errors, before you send it across.

Some Factors Which Make Listening Difficult

Learners frequently bemoan their second language listening skills. Even when they can comfortably get through a reading passage, listening can remain a continual challenge for students. Here are the two main reasons why :

Cognitive Load : Cognitive load is a fancy term that describes how much information your brain needs to hold onto in order to make sense of something. Imagine that you're doing a multiplication problem (72x13). If you do this using a calculator, you only need to remember the numbers (72 and 13). If you're doing it on a piece of paper, you need to remember your multiplication facts. Now imagine that you're doing the entire problem in your head. You can probably solve the problem, but it will require a great deal more time and effort on your part to keep the numbers straight and come up with the correct answer.

This multiplication analogy is exactly what is happening in your brain when you try to listen and make sense of something spoken in your second language. You have to intake the information as it's being said and wait until you have enough information to make sense of it. For second language learners, this has an added layer of complexity when you're dealing with different syntax, or word order. For example, in Korean and German, you won't hear the verb until the very end of the sentence. This means you have to hold on to a substantial amount of vocabulary before you figure out who did what.

Receptive Skill : Listening is a receptive skill (as is reading). This means that you as the listener have little control over what is being said and how it is communicated. When you're reading, this is actually quite useful. You can take your time to puzzle through a paragraph or article. For listening, however, this can be problematic for several reasons. First, you have no control over the speaker's speed, or rate of delivery. If you want to see how this feels, take 5 minutes and listen to someone speaking in a language of which you have no knowledge. It's a little overwhelming! While language teachers typically slow down and repeat what they say since they aware of their learners' limitations, native speakers may not be as sympathetic.

Vocabulary is another problematic area, especially as soon as you walk out of the language classroom. When you're listening to authentic spoken language, for example a radio broadcast, podcast, or movie produced for native speakers, you're going to be exposed to a huge range of vocabulary words. Native speakers and speaking partners are probably not aware of your vocabulary limitations. Slang, idioms, low-frequency vocabulary and words you just haven't had a chance to learn, can all quickly cause a breakdown in understanding.

The good news is that most language learners reach a point when listening is no longer a struggle, somewhere around the mid-advanced level. Until then, realize that listening will be a challenge that learners just like you all around the world are working to overcome!

How to Know Whether Home Schooling Is Right For You

Have you considered homeschooling your children? Maybe you have but often wondered what you would be getting yourself into if you did. Thousands of parents home school their children every day. It wasn't an easy decision, there are a lot of things to consider when you home school your child, here are some of the main things that you need to consider.

Financial strain

One parent will have to stay home with child while they are schooling them or working part-time, if you are used to living on a two income family there will be some sacrifices made to compensate for this. Also home schooling, while can be done cheaply can also cost more money depending on which program that you use for homeschooling.

Time

Teaching your children at home will take up most of the day. You will have to have available time to teach, take on field trips and to prepare lessons. There is a lot when you are doing this at home. During the day you will have very little time of your own.

Field trips

After a while your child may get bored learning at home, and want to have friends to play with, this is a huge part of schooling is having friends to play and socialize with. You will have to make arrangements to take your child out to the park or the library where they can socialize with other children.

Household Chores

It will be hard to keep up with household chores while you are teaching classes. You will have to work on most of this after school hours to complete everything. You will have to be organized not only with the work which is needed to be done around the house, but with the lesson plans and everything else.

Your child

Does your child want to go to public school? Are they comfortable being taught by you and willing to learn if you teach them? You want this to be a pleasant experience for them and need for them to learn, if they don't want to be taught at home it will be a daily struggle for them to learn and have a pleasant experience.

Homeschooling can be a great experience with them, many children will continue on to college and do well in college. It's a huge decision to teach your children at home and make sure that they learn everything which is needed for when they are adults,. It's not a decision to take lightly.

Homeschooling can be one of the most rewarding things you have done. You control what your children learn and most home school children go on to college and excel in the world. There are many ways that you can home school your children and there are also many ways that you can cut the cost of home schooling, online is one way that you can save money, there are so many resources available that is inexpensive or free.