United States
US
Catriona McTiernan
Teach Enrich Empower
From Summer Camps to Business English
As a nineteen year old student, I was considered quite a young teacher when I left Ireland to go to Spain to teach students English.
I always wanted to teach.When I was younger, I created games and tips that my future teacher self should follow. I had the urge to travel to other countries, so TEFL perfectly matched this description.I completed my TEFL course in June of this year, straight after my university exams. I was keen to use my newly acquired knowledge and quickly found myself a job in the North of Spain at a summer camp.
As a native English speaker, I noticed students and even non-native teachers relied on me as their personal grammar and spelling checker. Being a native English speaker is a highly valued, respected attribute to have as an EFL teacher.
I spent the first week in the Basque region and later moved to a boarding school in La Rioja, in which I worked for three weeks. This experience involved both teaching and activity organising. It felt like a lot of work for my first time job but it added immeasurably to my CV.
“I highly recommend taking a TEFL course.”
The students were very friendly and as we were of a similar age group, they were always eager to talk to me and speak English. I think their competency in speaking the language really improved through the duration of this camp, as they spoke to me both inside and outside the classroom.
I highly recommend taking a TEFL course. I’m from a small town and all the students take the local jobs during the summer. The jobs are far and few between and often depend on who you know to get this minimum wage work. As the adventurous type, TEFL was all the more tempting in my mind and I’m so glad I got experience so much in Spain in such a short space of time.
I am now studying Business English with TEFL, to build upon my TEFL CV even further. As I am going back to university in September, I can no longer teach abroad but have secured a position with an online English company that will provide me with enough income to support me through university. They were highly impressed with my experience and offered me a job teaching Business English. I am currently studying Commerce in university, so this work will definitely help me stand out from the other three hundred students who are studying the same course as me.
I plan to keep building up my teaching experience and explore other countries. I look forward to the future and hope to become a well-experienced teacher.
I speak a bit of Spanish and found that almost essential when I was travelling outside the school. I recommend making yourself aware of the cultural and language differences before going to another country.
Thank you TEFL you taught me so much!
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