United States
US
Olivia Pratt
Teach Enrich Empower
My Magnificent Experience as a 'Maestra' in Madrid
My name's Olivia. I'm 24 years old and I've been living in Madrid for the past 2 years.
Before I was teaching English, I was living in Auckland, New Zealand (my hometown), studying a Bachelor’s of Visual Arts and working for an Australian fashion brand. I took the online TEFL course because I moved to Madrid after finishing my degree to become a language assistant.
In Spain, there is a big market for teaching English as a foreign language. Here, you don’t necessarily need a teaching qualification to be hired for some positions. However I chose to take this TEFL course to be more knowledgeable about what I was teaching. I got a job as a language assistant before I moved to Spain, and I taught in a public high school. This position allowed me to gain valuable experience as well as to get a feel for the job (as I had never taught before). I then took the TEFL course to expand my skill set and improve my level of teaching. The four teachers that I assisted were native speakers, and they could explain things to our students in their own language. I wanted to communicate to the students in the language they were learning, but I needed to find a way to do this more effectively! So I subscribed to do this course.
The online method was a very efficient way that allowed me to still work in my job, but study in my free time. It also allowed me to put into practice the things I was learning as I went, in my assistant position at the school. Although I got this job before, the course gave me so much more confidence in my teaching, and the qualification has led to many more opportunities.
I currently have my own students I teach in private classes. I worked in a summer camp in England, and I now work for an academy teaching Business English to adults. I go to different companies around the centre of Madrid, teaching small groups and one to one. I absolutely love living in Spain. I’ve met a lot of people in the teaching community here.
“In Spain, there is a big market for teaching English as a foreign language.”
I call Madrid my home. I love learning about a new culture, as well as now being a part of the madrileño lifestyle . The jobs I have had have been very flexible, allowing me the chance to travel around Spain and Europe. For example, in the high school I always had Fridays off, lovely long weekends to travel and keep up with my photography (which was my degree). I’m well established here, I’ve fallen in love with the city and my job is really rewarding in my opinion, but I would like to travel to another destination to work soon. A change would be nice, and very possible in this field of work, I’ve been thinking about South America… so let’s see! (Vamos a ver)!
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