United Kingdom
UK
Yulia Lukashova
Teach Enrich Empower
From Teaching in China to Teaching in Isolation
My name is Yulia. I’m 27 years old. Here is my story!
After graduating university in Russia, I found myself very lost. I struggled to find a job in my field of art history. Instead, I ended up becoming a manager. Since I had an interest in English (I’ve been learning it since kindergarten) and a degree in interpreting, I landed a job at an American language centre, where I got to work with native English speakers.
Soon enough I felt like my managing job was more stressful than rewarding. I wanted to try something new, and I started tutoring English on the side. I felt connected to this new job instantaneously. It felt like a breath of fresh air after a whole day of dealing with administrative tasks. A few months after, I realised that I would like to try and teach English full-time.
That’s how I found a teaching job in China. Although this experience taught me a lot, I realised that I was lacking some professional knowledge. I wanted to find something accessible, a teaching course that I could complete in any country with just an internet connection. There were a lot of companies that provided TEFL courses, but I felt like The TEFL Academy’s course, approved by Ofqual, was a good fit for me.
“One of my favourite things has been seeing my students dress up for holidays. This Halloween, there were a lot of fun and scary costumes. I’m excited to see what Christmas has in store!”
Right now, due to the current situation, I am unable to go and teach abroad. After coming back from China, I found teaching jobs in Thailand and Turkey, but I couldn’t go because of the pandemic. So, I found an online teaching job and now work from home in Russia. I teach children aged 4 – 11 (individual classes).
Teaching online was something that I had to get used to – it’s different, but I really enjoy it. Now, there’s always a whiteboard and a toy on my desk. I mostly use Leo, my lion plushy, for demonstration. If I need to use some realia, I prepare it in advance too. Not all the games translate well to an online setting, but there are still plenty to choose from, i.e. hangman, read my lips, Simon says, I spy, etc.
Having completed the 168-hour TEFL course and the 30-hour teaching English to Young Learners’ course from The TEFL Academy, I can definitely say that I feel more confident in the classroom. I learned a lot about classroom management, the dos and don’ts, different teaching approaches, and, overall, got a lot of ideas on how I can improve my classes.
Teaching can be challenging, but it’s also so rewarding. Seeing my students’ progress, hearing them thanking me for the class, seeing their smiles – things like that make me really happy.
In the near future, I plan to keep teaching children online. As the situation with COVID-19 gets better, I hope to find a teaching job abroad again.
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