TEFL Teacher Profiles - Donal Casey

TEFL Tutor: Donal Casey
Hometown: Co. Dublin
Tutor Since: 2003

A: “Most recently: Japan.”

Q: What is your favourite part of the weekend course?

A: “The foreign language lesson and the teaching practices.”

Q: What made you want to be a TEFL Tutor?

A: “I wanted to put my years of experience teaching English abroad to some use when I moved back to Ireland.”

Q: What countries have you taught in, for how long, and travelled to?

A: “I’ve taught in Spain, for twelve years, Ireland for six years now, and Germany for a week! I've (travelled) around Europe, to the US and to Japan.”

Q: Had you done any teaching experience before taking your own TEFL course?

A: “No, I was still a college student.”

Q: What do you think are the benefits of TEFL teaching or having a TEFL qualification?

A: “It's a wonderful way to get to know another culture from the inside. A qualification in TEFL ensures that you will get a good job, as conditions can vary a lot; it also trains you to know what to actually do once you are put in front a class for the first time.”

Q: What did you enjoy the most about teaching and travelling?

A: “I enjoyed meeting different people from all over the world and surprised myself by really enjoying the experience of learning Spanish, as I was bad at foreign languages at school.”

Q: How has TEFL broadened your travel experiences? Do you have any future plans?

A: “I got to know Spain extremely well, and would rather know one or two countries deeply than get to know many countries superficially…I plan to continue living in Dublin, where - along with my work as an i-to-i TEFL tutor - I work as a lecturer at Dublin Business School and director of a small language and intercultural training company.”

Q: What can participants expect from your course?

A: “They will enjoy themselves more than they would expect from a course; and will also learn a lot in just two days about the real nuts and bolts of teaching English as a foreign language.”

© i-to-i, 2009