ICELT in Melaka

Spending 2 days in Melaka for the ICELT was a lot of things. It was boring (when certain people presented), it was hilarious (those workshops), it was enlightening (when we learned new things) and it was also affirming (when we found that we were heading in the right way after all). The 2 days spent there were not in vain, and I am glad I attended the conference.

The few people or presenters who did a real good job were people like A. Maley, S.J. Hall, C. Graham, M. Edwin, R. Tan, S. Menon. Some others had lots of content which were good but they were not dynamic presenters, so it was a little dry and boring.

Here are some snippets of funny observations :

A young lady teacher ran like a little girl to an elderly but rather popular presenter saying, "Oh Mr ??, I have been looking for you", and the presenter went "Oh, I have been looking for you too" like two love-struck teenagers.

In the melodrama workshop, one participant (a man) actually picked up another (a young lady) on his shoulder and carted her off. Then he picked up another young lady (who was supposed to be a chair) and threw her away. A young lady sat on a young man (supposed to be a table) as if fainted. A rather large woman "sat" on a small young lady (who was supposed to be a chair). Two women fought literally like cats and dogs.

A presenter made participants answer questions by throwing a ball at them. The ball got thrown numerous times at people sitting NOT in the front row. The said presenter also made a comment that people who say far away from the front would have to move because the back portion was going to blow up in 10 minutes! He also made us write down the last message we received in our handphones. Some were just plain hilarious.

A presenter got everyone to sing and clap to some nonsensical sentences. She was actually teaching us jazz chants and we had to participate actively. It was fun!

All in all, it was an enjoyable conference. Although things could have been better in some ways, I'm sure we could all look past that and just bask in the enjoyment that we had. My roommate had a lot of fun too .... didn't we?

I hope I get to attend more conferences and learn and get refreshed in my knowledge of ELT, and to be affirmed that I am doing things right.