Sonia Marsh - Gutsy Living

Teach English Abroad with the Cert-TESOL

May 18, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 9 Comments

Zoe, Sue, Sonia, Logan and Chris — My classmates, and I’m the one kneeling in the middle.

I’ve been studying like a crazy woman for the past 4 weeks in order to teach English abroad with the Cert-TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate.

This is by no means an easy course. It’s a level 5, comparable in difficulty to the second year of an undergraduate degree crammed into 4 weeks. Now you’ll understand why I felt like a zombie fueled by caffeine and adrenaline.

My poor 57-year-old brain, almost died; and what made me realize that age has nothing to do with my ability to study and retain material, was the fact that the twenty-somethings on our course, were just as exhausted and complained even more than us boomer ladies.

So now that I can breathe again. I am happy to inform everyone that I passed the written and oral exam last week. I can use my TESOL certificate to teach English to foreign students anywhere in England, France, Italy, Spain, other European countries, as well as China, South Korea, Japan, South America… basically anywhere.

IMG_20150515_162124556 — My teachers, Rob Farag, far left and Jane Stevenson in black in the middle. Classmates eating a home-made chocolate and orange cake to celebrate

IMG_20150515_162616680_HDR — My new teacher friends: Zoe, Natasha, me and Sue to my right. A great group of Cert-TESOL women

I decided to take the Trinity College TESOL certificate in Greenwich, London, as it was much cheaper than the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course at UCI (University of California Irvine) close to my house which costs $5,750. This outrageous price does not even include room and board at the Ritz. It’s also a TEFL, and not a Trinity College Cert-TESOL. The TEFL is not accepted in many parts of Europe, which is why I opted for the Cert-TESOL.

Why not take the course in London where you get to experience other cultures, other sights, and study within a small class of 6 students rather than the larger class sizes in the U.S.

My course in London cost less with airfare, and an Airbnb studio apartment overlooking the Cutty Sark (see photo below) than the UCI course, and I made some wonderful new contacts, plus I got to sightsee and visit my memoir author friend Ian Mathie. Another blog post to follow.

IMG_20150501_052358943_HDR (1) — View of the Cutty Sark from my bedroom window at sunrise

So are you ready to teach abroad? If you have a question for me, please ask in the comments below. I shall get back to you. You can also e-mail me at: Sonia@soniamarsh.com

Reinventing Myself in Mid-Life

April 23, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 9 Comments

I’ve become a student again at age 57, and quite frankly, it feels a little weird. I eat, sleep, and hang my wet laundry in one 8×12 room, but I accept this as a new challenge; part of reinventing myself in mid-life.

After a thirty-six year–student to career woman to wife to mom and back to student gap–I discovered that unlike social media, student-life is not about connecting and sharing; it’s about becoming territorial. You see my brand new toilet paper roll shrank to half its original size after my three male roommates discovered it on the bathroom shelf. They obviously must keep theirs in the bedroom or else they don’t spend money on toilet paper.

So why would a woman my age, share a bathroom and a kitchen with three young men? Is that part of reinventing myself?

It’s not because I miss being a mom, nor because I envy Madonna who loves dating men in their twenties, and I certainly don’t enjoy the smell of curry and garlic at 11 p.m. when I’m trying to fall asleep. The truth is, I had no idea that my Airbnb in Greenwich, London, had a shared bathroom and kitchen. Now I know why I got such a good deal on this London rental.

Sonia Airbnb-1 — Bedroom/dining room/storage of food and bathroom items

In all fairness, the roommates have been quiet as they have exams coming up, and since I need to crack the whip and work hard myself in order to pass the Trinity College TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) exam, I am not too worried about my living situation. I shall get used to bringing all my stuff to the kitchen when I want to cook. At least we each have our own small fridge in our bedroom, so food will not “accidentally” disappear.

Since I found a gym close by, with nice showers and clean towels, I decided to get ready for school, at the gym. A short walk to Costa Coffee, and then I shall be alert for classes starting at 9:30 a.m, until 5:30 p.m. daily.

Reinventing myself in mid-life, requires being flexible, adaptable and “gutsy.” I hope you keep following me as I follow this journey and explore life-changing options.

Have you reinvented yourself in mid-life? If so was it a challenge?

Discover Greek Culture

April 20, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 6 Comments

100_3019 — Sonia Marsh standing in front of the Parthenon

Thanks to travel bloggers, Rebecca Hall, Marissa Tejada and Elena Sergeeva, I was able to experience a unique tour with Discover Greek Culture, a new tour operator in Greece, that specializes in offering archaeological, gastronomic, historical and artistic tours, to groups of 2-15 people maximum.

Their goal is to offer something more personal and interesting, and I certainly felt that during my half day tour of “Neoclassical Greece.” I learned some interesting facts about Queen Amalia, the first queen of Greece who was German, and not too happy about living in Greece. She missed Germany, and German butter, since Greeks only had olive oil, so she requested cows and goats to be sent to her, so she could have her butter churned.

We visited her royal gardens, and Queen Amalia had palm trees imported from the U.S. in the 19th century.

DGC_ATH_SIT_National-Garden_09 — Photo credit Discover Greek Tours

I was impressed with the knowledge of our guides, and the fact that Discover Greek Culture organized an aristocratic coffee and treats for us, in one of the rooms in the city of Athens museum, which had served as the temporary home of King Otto and Queen Amalia in 1834.

I wish I had stayed longer in Greece as I would have enjoyed another half-day archaeological tour with Discover Greek Culture to the Acropolis and the Acropolis museum. After the tour, they have a Greek wine and produce tasting session in Plaka, followed by a Greek coffee and Loukoumia, at a traditional Athenian mansion.

I shall definitely be back to learn more about Greek culture and to get a “Taste of Greece,” as I did not get an opportunity to have a guided history and archaeology tour of the Acropolis from an expert.

By the way, if you want a custom tour, Discover Greek Culture specializes in those as well as many others. I also heard that they won a Silver Award in the 2015 Greek Tourism Awards for their innovative tourism products.

If you’re interested in going to Greece and want something a little different than the tours that herd you around like cattle, why not check out a unique tour.

Have you visited Greece? If so, what was your favorite tour?

Discoverability: The Key to Successful Indie Publishing

April 14, 2015 by Sonia Marsh Leave a Comment

“Discoverability” seems to be the central theme at the 2015 Publishers University conference; something all indie publishers need to put at the top of their book publishing, marketing and promotion list. In 2014, the theme was the importance of indie authors becoming entrepreneurs, hence the term: “Authorpreneur.”

“Discoverability” is what the majority of self-published authors, or independent publishers, are looking for, and with 43 million book buyers in the U.S., how do you get discovered?

According to Peter Hildick-Smith, President of Codex Group, who presented, “How Books Sell,” there are three essential pillars to success:

Discoverability: Do I know the book exists?
Conversion: Is the book message interesting? Do I want to buy it?
Availability: Is the book available for purchase in book stores?

You need to do all 3 well, in order to sell books. Obviously if no one discovers your book, there are no sales.

How many true book buyers are there in the U.S.?

235 million adults
43 million adult book buyers
83 million infrequent book buyers, (those who hear about a popular book, and then buy it.)
13 million frequent book buyers (most of them are well-educated and make 50% more income than the average.)
Digital books are now skewed towards older people, because they can make the print larger, etc.

But discoverability alone does not guarantee book sales, it simply means an awareness that the book exists. Sadly, there was no difference in online discovery selling, between 2010 and 2014. The percentage remained low at 6%..

The real problem lies in the conversion aspect of book sales.

How do you move a discoverer to act to buy the book?

According to statistics on books purchased in the U.S. in 2014

29% of sales were because of a favorite author/series
24% Book topic/message
13% Personal recommendations

Author Brands dominate the list in both fiction and non-fiction book sales.

In order to be considered an author brand, you need to have 500,000 fans or more.
Your book/topic message is critical in determining book purchasing conversions, and increases towards narrative non-fiction and non-fiction.
Book covers make a huge difference in book sales. They have to be able to tap into the reader’s imagination.
A free e-book sticker with purchase of print book, made no difference in book sales.

Conclusion

Books are an extreme niche market; focus on your target audience.
Publish for the 85 million untapped book buyers.
Discoverability is not a one-size fits all. Be different.
Conversion is not discovery, and discovery is not conversion.
Your book message is the mini-story that has to connect with the buyer.
Book stores remain the largest discovery sources; not Amazon
You need Discoverability, Conversion and Availability or you lose.

STAND OUT, have a bold message. There are 51.9 million books sold on Amazon as of April 2015, so you need a BOLD MESSAGE.

Travel with Me As I Reinvent Myself

April 9, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 5 Comments

Follow Me as I Start a New Chapter in My Life
April 9th-June 8th, 20151. AUSTIN, TX IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association, “Publishers University” conference.
2). ATHENS, GREECE, and possibly the island of HYDRA.
3). GREENWICH, LONDON- Studying for the TESOL, to teach English as a 2nd language.
4). PARIS, to celebrate my dad’s 90th birthday.
5). St. Malo, Brittany for 4 days.
6). Pedraza, Spain, volunteering with Vaughan Town in the 13th Century village of Pedraze
7). Back to Los Angeles, June 8th.

Ithaca, Greece taken by Marissa Tejada with Travellers Bloggers Greece.

1). Austin, Texas
IBPA (Independent Book Publishers’ Association) from April 9-11 in Austin, Texas. I shall blog about the topics that I’ve signed up for like:

How to be a Profitable One-Person Publishing Company
Building Author Platform with Social Media and Publicity
Profitable Sales Beyond Bookstores and Libraries
What You Need to Know to Get Your ebook Distributed (with or without Amazon.)
Book Metadata from Head to Toe
How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon

My youngest son moved to Austin. He says there are some great restaurants and live bands everywhere, so I shall combine IBPA “Publishing University” with some special time with my son. Here is what I learned from last year’s IBPA conference.

Photo of Leros, Greece, taken by Rebecca Hall.

2). Athens Greece
I am spending an authentic vacation in Greece, thanks to Rebecca Hall, who writes a wonderful blog about Greece and more, called “Life Beyond Borders”. She connected me with Marissa and Elena, the Travel Bloggers Greece ladies, They prepared a custom tour for me with “Discover Greek Culture, Dig Deeper, Discover More.”
I shall blog about my adventures in Greece from April 14-18. I start with a walking tour of the National Garden, originally commissioned by Queen Amalia, the first Queen of Greece. This will be followed by a private tour of the museum of the City of Athens, Vouros-Eutaxias Foundation, accompanied by the museum’s researcher. The focus is on modern history of Greece, from 1834 onwards.I shall enjoy the aristocratic life in the early years of the Modern Greek state served at a 19th century dining I also hope to visit the island of Hydra with Beccy.

I have booked a studio apartment on Airbnb with a view of the Cutty Sark

3) Greenwich, London
I am taking the Cert-TESOL certificate in London for one-month. This is the “Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages,” course which is respected and recognized globally by language schools. I have always wanted a qualification I can use anywhere in the world, and thanks to Rebecca Hall, who writes about “Life Beyond Borders” blog, I was guided to this specific course.
I booked my studio apartment with Airbnb for one-month to cut down on my expenses in London. Here’s what I did to save money.

My wonderful dad turns 90 in one month. This was taken last year.

4) Paris
My dad turns 90 on May 20th, so I am excited to be in Paris to celebrate with my European family. Dad’s dilemma is whether to have a small family get-together, which is what he would prefer, or whether to turn it into a big party, which some family and friends are hoping for.

5). St. Malo, Brittany.
My father is still in great shape and loves to travel. This year he, and his wife, Jill, visited Myanmar- (Burma). I am lucky to be invited to join both of them on a 4 day trip to St. Malo, Brittany. Watch this VIDEO to get an idea of the scenery, people and beaches. More photos and information about St. Malo.

6). PEDRAZA, Spain.I volunteered in May 2014, with Vaughan Volunteers in Spain. This time I shall be doing the same, in a 13th Century Village, called, Pedraza. Here is a VIDEOshowing the village where I shall spend one week with Spaniards who have signed up to improve their English conversational skills. Most of them are business people who need to practice with native Anglos. That’s what they call the volunteers. Our first-class accommodation and meals are paid for. I wrote a blog post, “Get a Free Vacation While Speaking English” about my wonderful experience last year. Check out all the photos of Pedraza from a previous volunteer. It’s so beautiful.