Which course did you take?
Trinity Cert. TESOL course April-May 2014
How was Prague?
If home is where the heart is, then Prague is home to me. The city itself is beautiful, with beautiful architecture and places of historical significance everywhere! And I love how the metro and trams make it so easy to get from place to place. There’s plenty of good food, too: I fell in love with the klobasa stands at the bottom of Wenceslaus Square — best klobasa in Prague!! And it’s very expat-friendly there; lots of English-speaking businesses.
Where did you work after the course?
There are a ton of work opportunities in Prague, but my goal was always to make Kladno my base of operations. After the course, I taught at a children’s English camp in Most, worked at an elementary school in Prague 6, taught a few classes at Oxford House, and ultimately got a job teaching for PROGRESS Language Institute in Kladno, whose clients include LEGO and La Lorraine Bakery Group.
Where are you now?
I’m settled in Kladno. I still work for PROGRESS, have a few private students, and run a weekly English Club.
How did the course set you up for the realities of teaching?
The Trinity Cert. TESOL course gave me the opportunity to teach students at various levels, which allowed me to see the diversity even within the same class. This is a reality in every language class — you’re going to have a few students who are ready to move up and others who just got there, and you’re going to have to teach them all at once.
It also taught me to write lesson plans for every lesson — a definite reality for all teachers! You have to plan if you want to teach successfully!
The Trinity Cert. TESOL course also set me up with a solid grammatical foundation and some great strategies and habits to cope with the many curveballs that this profession throws at you — from unexpected questions about grammar to coping with students who are in the wrong class.
Best thing about the job? Best thing about your current location?
The best thing about the job is the students. Variety is the spice of life, and the students keep life interesting. I love that I get to work with real people, and that talking about real life is great conversational practice. As you build language skills, you’re also building relationships! You’re making friends wherever you go with this job.
My current location is Kladno, and I love that it’s conveniently close to Prague, but has much more of a small-town feel. I love that I’m less than a minute’s walk from my church and our English Club. I love that the friends I’ve made here have lived in Kladno all their lives — I’m getting a real taste of Czech life. I love that I have to learn Czech because most of the people who work in the stores don’t speak English. And I love that learning Czech helps me to see things from a student’s perspective, making me a better teacher.
It’s been almost a year since I moved to the Czech Republic, and I haven’t regretted a minute of it. 
If you would like to read more about the Trinity Cert. TESOL visit this page, contact us or go ahead and start the adventure in Prague by applying here.
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