TEFL Teacher: Tom Ryan
Hometown: Co. Clare
Teaching Location: China

After having numerous jobs, from farming to working in a chocolate factory, Ogonnelloe local Tom Ryan decided he’d take the plunge and go on an i-to-i China internship to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).

Tom is flying into Beijing the 23rd of February, to start the 5 month teaching internship where his accommodation, food and living expenses are being covered.

“(I had) no teaching in mind but (I) had travelling in my head a lot,” Tom said. “I just wasn’t sure how I was going to get going, next thing I saw TEFL (I thought) yes please!”

To apply for the internship programme, no degree or teaching experience is necessary. This certainly suited Tom as his only previous teaching experience was a presentation to French students in Montreal on Irish Heritage. To prepare applicants for the teaching internship, 120 hours of TEFL training is provided in Ireland before leaving for China. “I’m going to take it one step at a time and see where this road takes me,” he said. “I like a challenge, (I am) open to new things.”

Tom turned towards TEFL to experience new places, new people and to teach while getting paid to do so, he said. One of the benefits of TEFL that appeals to Tom is that within a few short months you can head overseas to teach in a foreign country, he continues “Who knows where it can take you within a few years. It could change your life.”

As a final piece of advice for anyone thinking about teaching abroad, Tom says: “If you’re thinking about it, just do it. The possibilities after teaching in another country can sometimes be life changing.”