This week’s blog post is about what initially sparked my interest in teaching English as a second language. For several years, my family and I have spent either the entire winter on the west coast of Mexico (if school would allow) or I would go and visit during reading and winter break. Over the past few years since I have graduated from grade school, I found myself teaching basic English to the children of the local village during Semana Santa (Saint Week), a holiday which occurs during Easter every year. It is tradition for many people to take the week off and take their family out to the coast. During the week, as a family we would also spend many hours on the beach socializing and visiting with workers, friends, and family. I spent most of my time with the children of our family friends, playing games on the sand and in the water. Because of the language barrier (I do not yet speak fluent Spanish) the children and I would chatter away in a mangled mix of English and Spanish, the popular term being Spanglish I believe. I began to teach them words in English for the things we were doing, and basic phrases such as “good morning, how are you?” or “hello, my name is _______, nice to meet you.” It was during these annual holidays that I discovered how much I enjoyed being around kids as well as teaching them something new. Having always wanted to move to Mexico at some point in my life, either temporarily or permanently, my experience with the children on the beach started an ongoing investigation into teaching English as a second language in foreign countries and I discovered that there are many job opportunities as English teachers, all over the world!
I decided that I would pursue a Canadian degree first before attaining my TEFL certificate as I value the education and opportunities it would give me at home and abroad. Since then with the changes the world has been seeing the past several months, I have put my dream of teaching English as a second language, not away, but on the back burner. My focus now is getting my Bachelor of Education and using it in my own country first! However, I have high hopes that once my degree is finished and I have a few years of teaching in Canada under my belt, I will have the freedom and ability to travel south again and begin a different chapter in my teaching career.
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