Lindsey Askew
Teach Enrich Empower
Walking the Great Wall on the Weekends
Hi, my name is Lindsey and I’ve just celebrated my 48th birthday in China. I graduated from the Open University in 2014 with my BA(Hons) and was unsure what to do next.
Having worked very hard to juggle my studies with my job in a London restaurant, I wanted to do something useful with my degree. I have always loved traveling and I wondered how I could combine the two things whilst building a rewarding career for myself. I had heard very good stories about people having a wonderful time whilst doing TEFL and decided it was time to investigate.
I registered for a course which involved a weekend course at a hotel in London and then a 100-hour online course. The tutor for the weekend was very experienced with a wealth of knowledge. It was also interesting to meet the other people on the course who were of all ages and from various backgrounds and all with their various plans for the future. Having never taught in my life it was good to stand up and get a feel for what it would be like to teach as well as getting a taster of how to write up a lesson plan. I remember coming away from the weekend course feeling very excited about what the future may hold and the doors that TEFL could open up for me.
After some thought I decided that this was what I really wanted to do and on the day before Christmas Eve, 2015, I left everything in London, packed up and moved back to my home town of Blackpool to finish the online course and spend sometime with my family. Whilst I did find the online course challenging, I also appreciated how thorough the course material and assignments were, especially now that I am in a teaching environment. As I was unfamiliar with lesson planning I just decided to give each assignment my best shot to see if I was on the right track.
“TEFL has changed my life and opened up the whole world to me.”
The tutors for the online course were extremely helpful and I got feedback within 2 to 3 days. With their valuable feedback I was able to resubmit my assignments successfully and achieve good grades. Before I had completed the course I thought I would get my CV together and start applying for jobs. I had always fancied China and I did some research into the best companies to work for. I got immediate interest and very quickly had a Skype interview arranged where I explained that I was just completing my TEFL course but I would love to work for their company. I got the job and was just completing my course as the company were beginning the process of applying for my work visa.
I now live in the amazing city of Beijing and work for a very good company. China is an amazing country to live in and I’ve only just really started exploring. Last weekend I was on the Great Wall and I have to pinch myself sometimes. TEFL has changed my life and opened up the whole world to me. The children make you smile every day and I am able to build a rewarding career whilst exploring some of the greatest places in the world. I’m not sure where I will travel to next. The opportunities are limitless and I can’t recommend enough the benefits of acquiring a TEFL certificate.
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