TEFL Course

Completing A TEFL Course in Prague

Heather’s Story

“Want to travel to a different country every weekend?” “Looking for a fun summer experience abroad?” 

These are the titles of advertisements for the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program that first drew me to Prague. That is how my journey began. I didn’t ever intend to move abroad long term. After graduating from college, I began to work as a teacher in the United States. I considered that my full-time job, but looking for a summer adventure, I signed up for the course, packed my bags, and left for Prague. Being in Prague exceeded my expectations. After moving there, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the city! I loved the long summer days, where the sun would come up around 4:30 and then wouldn’t go down until about 9:30 at night. I loved watching the sunset while overlooking the city at night and enjoying moderate temperatures of mostly 70 degrees. It was endless summer that I wished could last forever! The program I signed up for offered Czech lessons, taught us about the culture, and showed us how to get around the city. From the very first day, they picked us up from the airport, gave us a tour of the city, arranged housing, got us connected with a phone plan, and got us public transportation passes—along with showing us how to use the transportation in the city. It made transitioning into a new place so comfortable and easy. And I did travel to a different destination (almost) every weekend. The places I was able to visit that summer included Kutna Hora (a small town in the Czech Republic), Rome, London, and Edinburgh.

By the end of the summer I wasn’t ready to leave my friends or my newfound home. I was surprised with the ability that the course had to allow me to adapt to a new city and culture so quickly. I decided to live abroad.

Getting Started:

My first memories of coming back were magical. I decided to come back right at the new year, to start my new year in a new city. I spend New Year’s Eve downtown watching the most amazing fireworks with some friends in the city. I was amazed with how I could be gone a while and then come back, walk into a party with people from the program I completed the previous summer, and instantly feel at home. There is a lot to be said for the program I completed and the friendships that are created because of it.

Getting started wasn’t all easy. However, I knew that it was off to a great start.

How did I find the TEFL course:

I approached this experience as a young working professional. I had been working as an elementary school teacher for several years in the USA. While I was looking for a summer adventure, a friend recommended me to the goabroad.com website and I did some research about different opportunities working or studying abroad. Being a teacher already, I felt that a TEFL certificate would align well with my previous experience and provide a new opportunity for learning and growth at the same time.

The program that I chose stood out to me because it was featured on the goabroad.com website, and it had lots of great reviews. I was also able to speak with a graduate of the course on the phone before deciding to come to Prague. She shared her thoughts about the course openly and I was able to gain answers to the questions that I had.

Coming into this experience I was worried that I would be much older than the other participants having been a working professional for several years after graduation. However, there ended up being a good variety of teachers. Some were in their early 20’s as I expected, but many teachers were also in their late 20’s, early 30’s, and a few beyond as well.

Completing the Course:

The course was not easy, even though it was worthwhile! It was a long working day, beginning in the morning and then not coming home until late at night. As it can be expected when a long course is condensed into one month, the workload was intense. I spent lots of hours studying and planning lessons. But I had some wonderful memories along the way. The teachers of the TEFL course were fantastic! They had very entertaining and memorable lessons. We were able to learn many interesting facts, methodologies, and how to make engaging lessons for the ESL learners. I also loved getting to know the many other amazing people who signed up for the course.

Where I Work Now:

I am an online teacher. I have been teaching online for several years now. I love my job! It provides flexibility. I can take off any days or weeks I want to go on a trip, and schedule as many hours as I want to work the other days! I also have free evenings which provides flexibility if I want to schedule evening classes or get involved with something in the community. Currently I have used it to be able to work while traveling to different countries. I have been able to teach online wherever there is Wi-Fi and it allows me to work while also being on vacation. All I take with me is a laptop, a bag of props, and a backdrop to put up wherever I go to make it look and feel more like a classroom for the students. My home base is Prague, but I have brought my laptop and bag of props along with me to multiple countries already.

The students I teach are ages 4-16, which is right around the ages I am used to teaching in the classroom. I love still being able to teach children, and this allows me to teach them one-on-one. It also allows me to work with them on the things that they specifically need and to focus on them without all the other needs of a regular classroom. In my mind, it is the ideal teaching situation. I don’t have to worry about things like materials (they are provided), student behavior (since the parents at their home monitor them), or the lesson not being on their level (since all of the lessons are specific to the student’s needs). It takes all of the best parts of teaching and allows me to be able to enjoy them without the parts that I didn’t like as much. The students are also at an advantage to have a teacher who is solely focused on them for the entire lesson. As an elementary teacher, it also involves things I love to do with the children such as singing songs, games, reading stories, focusing on comprehension, and teaching vocabulary.

It is different from the previous experience I had teaching in an Elementary School classroom because it also provides an opportunity to feel connected to another part of the world. Teaching English to students who have a different native language is an exciting cultural experience. I feel so happy to be able to wake up and see their smiling faces every day! They make me smile, they make me laugh, and my days are brighter because of them! The genuine friendships and working relationships that I have developed with my students is something that I will always cherish.

Why live abroad and teach online? For me the biggest reason is that the hours for teaching online to other countries is much better in Europe than in the United States due to the time difference. I can work during the day rather than an early morning or graveyard shift. It can be a regular day job and it is so much more convenient.

The TEFL course did enrich my teaching skills and was beneficial for my job working online. I had worked online prior to the course, but only as a part-time job. After deciding to come abroad, my part-time job became my full-time job, and I took it to many new places. During the TEFL course, we also taught lessons to Czech students. Teaching to students of another culture allowed me to gain additional insight to ESL teaching.

I greatly enjoy teaching English online and I want to continue it. Even though I'm not sure where I will go next, I look forward to future adventures.

Teaching online has opened many doors for me. I am very happy that I took a leap of faith and decided to move abroad.