In today’s graduate interview, we got the chance to talk to Kristina, one of our recent Trinity CertTESOL graduates, who is from Croatia but moved to Ireland 15 years ago. In this article, she tells us about her experience taking the course and how the certification, which is accepted and recognised by the British Council, will help her teach in Ireland.
We recently got the chance to talk to Kristina, one of our Trinity CertTESOL graduates, who is from Croatia but moved to Ireland 15 years ago. In this article, she tells us about her experience taking the course and how the certification, which is accepted and recognised by the British Council, will help her teach in Ireland.
Kristina’s background
Before she was interested in teaching English in Ireland, Kristina studied the English language, literature, and sociology. She also got a Master’s in Education.
“I was teaching for about two, three years in a primary school and I did business English classes as well for about three years,” she shared. “And then I moved to Ireland. I wanted to improve my English. I just kind of moved to Ireland and I became a full-time volunteer in a homeless hostel. And I thought I was gonna do that for a year, go back and, you know, resume my teaching career. (But) I stayed, so that was about 15 years ago. And ever since I kind of worked in this homeless sector.”
However, at some point, Kristina told us that she wanted to pick teaching back up again. So, she knew she had to get certification that was recognised in Ireland.
“I think it’s time now to return to teaching. So I was like whoa. What could I do? And I realised that in Ireland, I think this Trinity CertTESOL and I think there was another one or or two that are recognised.”
Though she tried out a different TEFL course, Kristina didn’t see how it would help her teach in Ireland. However, she shared that things changed when she found the EBC Trinity CertTESOL course.
“I started it, and then I realised, oh, this is so useless. It means nothing, like I can’t even get a job in any of the schools in Ireland. But then I came across this (EBC Trinity CertTESOL course) and it really suited me because it was online. I’m hoping to do maybe some teaching in person and some online, so I was really interested in taking this course.”
Choosing EBC
Kristina shared that when it came to choosing EBC, it boiled down to four things. First, the international recognition of the Trinity CertTESOL course. Second, the fact that the course is online. Third, EBC’s years of experience. And fourth, EBC’s lifetime, worldwide job placement programme.
“Well, the first one, what obviously did the most important thing was that I get this Trinity CertTESOL, which is recognised in Ireland. That was really important,” she said. “The second thing was that it was online. Because I wanted to improve my online teaching skills. It really suited me that it was in July because I was able to take time off work in July as well. Also I’ve noticed that EBC has loads of experience. There were loads of previous graduates. They’ve been doing it for years.
“And also the placement thing where they find you work afterwards. That was really important as well because, when you graduate from this course (it’s like), Oh what am I gonna do now? But (we just) upload our CVs and they send our CVs to language schools. We just have to give them (our preferred) location. I wish I had done it years ago.”
Teach in Ireland: Kristina’s Trinity CertTESOL course experience
We also asked Kristina about her experience taking the EBC Trinity CertTESOL course. And, when we did, she shared,
“It was very positive.”
Though she acknowledged that the course was intensive, she found that it was very effective in preparing her to teach English in Ireland. She also told us that she learned so much in such a short time.
“It was full on,” she said. “The workload was really hard. But I just can’t believe how much I’ve learned in just a month. It was pretty amazing. So I’m really happy with it. It was four weeks in total, and from my experience, the four weeks felt like two months, to be honest,”
she told us, even comparing the course to her experience taking up Master’s. However, the way Kristina sees it, everything paid off.
“It was really worth it, and I just can’t believe the confidence that I got from it, you know? It was great. I would definitely recommend it,” she said.
Teach in Ireland: Kristina’s training
As for the training that she received to prepare her to teach in Ireland, Kristina liked that the course was well structured and that it gave trainees a lot of practice with lesson planning.
“I thought it was really good,” she said. “It was really well structured. The first week, Thursday and Friday, we had to deliver lessons to real students. We had to write our own lesson plans and we had to do a whole lot.”
Kristina also liked the diversity of the students and teacher trainees.
“There were students from all over the world,” she said. “I was so nervous. The first day I was so nervous, but it got easier. You know, once you get into the whole…this is how we do lesson plans. This is how we teach grammar. This is how we teach vocabulary. It was great. And our trainer, Iza, she was amazing.
“Like every day, when we had lectures on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We would do all the grammar and everything. All these little pieces that we needed to deliver this lesson on Thursday and Friday. So, it didn’t feel like I didn’t know what I was doing.”
Furthermore, Kristina said she appreciated the amount of feedback she got, as the comments helped her improve.
“Also what was really helpful was Iza’s feedback. After each lesson it was so detailed…little tips. You need to improve on this and this, and this is how you do it. So next time you just follow the advice. And you do better.
“The second week I really enjoyed the lessons, and then the third week it was, really fun. So, right. It was good. I think from looking back at my experience, I found the feedback really, really helpful as well. Even the self-reflective questions. And at some point, I think it was also around the second week where I saw that my self-reflection sort of started matching up with the trainer’s feedback. And it was really cool to see that.”
Teach in Ireland: Takeaways from the course
We also asked Kristina what her biggest takeaways from the course were, and this is what she had to say:
“I used to be an English teacher in Croatia where I’m from. So you know, I did kind of have teaching practice. I had my student placement and all that. But I just felt this time (with the Trinity CertTESOL course), everything kind of clicked. You know? It was like, why am I doing this? Why am I saying what I’m saying?
“And you know, in the class before it was just, I did it. I think I was a good teacher, but now I know exactly. And I think especially about my teacher talking time. Yeah, I would use that dramatically. Everything has to have a purpose, and like I said, everything just clicked. Just like, you know, there’s a way of teaching grammar, there’s a way of teaching vocabulary. There’s a way of teaching. I’ve never done this before and I’ve never taught online. So that was such a great thing to learn. And I feel so comfortable doing it now.”
“And another thing, I never assessed a student. I taught in primary school. But this time, like you, you get a new student and you know how to assess their skills, you know? That was brilliant. Yeah, that was great. And also creating my own material…just being given this chance to be creative. I thought that was great. So I think that those were kind of the biggest takeaways, and I got confidence as well from the whole process.”
Teach in Ireland: The Trinity CertTESOL course as a ticket to the world
Because of the international recognition of the Trinity CertTESOL certification, the course becomes somewhat of a ticket to the world. For example, now, Kristina can teach in Ireland. So, when we asked her to give us her two cents on this matter, she shared,
“I think it’s great because you can live wherever you want, especially if you want to teach online. And with this graduate program where they look for employment for you like what Tita told us. She said, ‘Look, I mean, okay, now you want to look for work in Ireland or wherever. If you want to move somewhere else in years’ time, yeah, sure, we’ll find you a job there.’ I just couldn’t believe it. Just the freedom of it.”
She also touched on how many English teachers love to travel and how being a language lover comes in handy in the classroom.
“Like you said, you know that we like to travel. Yeah, I’ve noticed that as well,” Kristina shared. “And I think it’s just if you’ve learned a different language yourself, and you love language…I think for us it’s easier to become teachers as well. Because you know the process and you know how students learn. I think we just have this interest. It’s interesting.”
Teach in Ireland: How the course met Kristina’s expectations
Now, as someone with prior teaching experience, did the course meet Kristina’s expectations? Especially considering she wants to teach in Ireland? Well, Kristina told us that it definitely did.
“I’m really happy with the course. It was even more than I expected,” she said. “First I thought, okay, a month, and it’s gonna be intensive. Sure, it’s gonna be, it has to be good. But I can’t believe how much I’ve learned. The progress I’ve made.
And I think a lot of it was because our tutor…she was so experienced. Like she knew exactly what she was doing on which day of the course. And you know what? I just can’t believe it. That you’re actually ready to teach after it. You’re ready to teach now. I could start teaching next month. And I’m fine with it. I’m not nervous…and I know I can do it. It’s amazing.”
“I remember I cried after my first teaching practice. I cried after the first and I just wanted to give up after the first one. My Zoom crashed on the first teaching practice lesson and I had to log in on another computer. And after the session, I just cried and I was like, ‘That was a total failure.’ But then it was such a big difference from TP six.”
“So I was really, really happy about that. And it’s the same pattern with a lot of the graduates as well.”
Teach in Ireland: Building Kristina’s confidence
The teaching practice sessions also helped Kristina build her confidence, which is key to being an effective English teacher. Furthermore, she shared that it allowed her to interact with people from all over the world. And that was something she loved.
“It starts with the lesson plan,” she said. “You get to know your students and you know what their level is, what their interests are. And then, you know, it’s so interesting.”
“You start kind of writing your lesson plan, (thinking) this person is going to love this and they’re gonna love this topic, and they’re gonna, or they’re gonna have such a great discussion around this. You know, you just know. And once you get to know them, you know how they’re gonna react and you also know the things they need to improve on. Like maybe their pronunciation or whatever. And you focus on that. It gives you such great satisfaction. You know, at the start, you are thinking, oh my God, this is really complicated, this grammar is really complicated, these tenses.”
“I just love the whole process of that. Lesson planning and just teaching and even just interacting with all the students from all around the world. You know, like I even remember my first TP when we were talking about out fears or something. What are you afraid of? And this person said, ‘I’m afraid of tigers. There’s this tiger in my village.’”
“And I said, ‘Oh my God, this is mad.’ It’s so interesting just getting to know all the people. I think it just gave me that confidence. You follow this certain structure, and you become better at time management. Then you know how to finish the lesson on time. It gives you confidence that you’re able to deliver a really good lesson. It’s interesting and it’s useful. You do it in a confident way as well, and students are enjoying it. So it’s really equipped me to be independent.”
Teach in Ireland: Why Kristina would recommend the course
Now, would Kristina recommend the EBC Trinity CertTESOL course? Well, her answer to us was:
“Oh yeah, definitely I would. Like I said, the course is really good. It’s really well structured. You are supported at every step of the way. You get excellent feedback and you just progress so rapidly in a short span of time, and I think it’s good for all levels.
“All levels of maybe experience or knowledge because there were students there who had no teaching experience at all, and you know what? They were fine by the end of it. So I would recommend it to everybody really, for whatever reason they want to do it.”
Teach in Ireland: Kristina’s future plans
As for Kristina’s future plans, she is definitely going to be teaching in Ireland. Though she wasn’t very sure at first, it’s clear to her now. Not only does she now know how to teach with confidence, but she also loves doing it.
“I still have my job,” she said. “But I’m sending my CV and I’m hoping to get interviews now and get a (teaching) job. I work full time. So once I get a (teaching) job, I’ll just have to quit my job, I suppose. Because I wasn’t really sure before I did this course because it’s a big change. I have a good job and I’m happy with my job, but after doing this course, it really reminded me how much I enjoy teaching. And it’s such a positive thing for me. I made my decision.”
From all of us at EBC, we wish you the best of luck, Kristina. We know you’ll do amazing out there. Until our next check-in!
If you want to be an English teacher, then get certified with us today. The EBC Trinity CertTESOL course is your ticket to the world. How? It’s accepted and recognised by the British Council, which works in over 100 countries all around the world.
And, EBC graduates get access to our lifetime, worldwide job placement programme. How does this work? First, you finish your course. Then, you send us your CV. You also tell us where you want to work as well as which age groups you want to work with. After that, we send your CV to our partner language schools in your chosen area. Then, from there, they contact you. Yes, it really is that simple–just like Kristina said!
If you want to know more about our course, feel free to contact us today. You can also send us an email at info@ebcteflcourse.com
