ENGLISH TEACHING
It was always an ambition of mine to try and learn a foreign language as an adult, and during my time at university I opted to substitute 25% of my tourism studies for a Spanish module. This seemed like a logical and interesting choice given I had plans to spend a considerable amount of time in Latin America after I had graduated from university. I enjoyed the challenge of learning Spanish and comfortably passed the B1 level at university and have more recently passed the B2 level in Spain. What’s more, my time learning another language helped me to feel more confident with the structure and grammar of my native English, and during my time at university it became apparent that there were plenty of opportunities to teach English abroad for university graduates.
With this in mind, I decided that I could enrich and prolong my experience in Latin America by obtaining the Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualification. Having decided to start my trip in Mexico so that I could brush up on my Spanish skills at a language school in Puebla, I then decided to go and get my TEFL qualification from an academy in Guadalajara. Here I completed and passed a 4-week intensive course which included 11 hours of observed teaching practice with paying students at a private language school in the downtown area. Following the end of the programme, I opted not to work in one specific school and instead to give private lessons as I travelled. I also obtained a Teaching English Online certificate so that I could market myself better to remote students.
My most recent experience of teaching English was at a language school in central Spain on behalf of the British Council. I became aware of the British Council’s Language Assistant programme during my time at university and it seemed like a great opportunity that I kept in the back of my mind until the time was convenient for me to apply. I therefore applied for the 24-25 programme and was given a place at a language school in the town of Alcázar de San Juan, Castilla La Mancha. Here I was involved with teaching English and promoting British culture to adult students who had varying levels of competence in English, from A1 beginner level to C2 expert level. It was at times an intense experience but also a very authentic and interesting one, and I believe I gained much more from my placement by being in a location that is often overlooked by tourists despite its beauty and history.
