TEFL Teacher: Ruth Kilcullen
Hometown: Co. Dublin
Teaching Location: Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos

Having always wanted to go abroad after college, Ruth saw herself travelling through the developing world after school, she said. Now having finished college in August, Ruth has been working eight hours a week in her local pub.

“I have no job prospects here and I didn’t want to continue onto fourth level straight after my degree so now seems like the time to go!” Ruth said.

She turned to i-to-i for her TEFL course as she has friends who have done the same and were successful abroad, she said. While Ruth has an idea of where she wants to go and has made an agreement with friends to get qualified, they will use the Internet to find employment.

“I’ve always wanted to do something useful in the developing world and teaching seemed an obvious way to do so,” she said. “The qualification allows you to get a job and the benefit is that people want to learn it!”

So far the TEFL course has prepared Ruth well for the teaching world and the weekend course element was and insightful as regards the teaching practice, she said.

“It has given me a lot of confidence but also shown me how complicated teaching even the simplest concepts can be,” she said. “It’s also given me a much deeper appreciation of all the excellent teachers I have had over the years and a greater sympathy for the terrible ones!”

While teaching can be a challenge, Ruth is looking forward to her first day of teaching when the class actually goes as planned, she said.

“I know the first while will be difficult and I don’t want to be a disappointment to my students or my employers, so I’m looking forward to the first time I walk out of a class and think ‘that couldn’t have gone better,’” she said.

Ruth recommends TEFL even for people who have no immediate need to go abroad as a way to study and thoroughly understand the English language, she said.

“Because there seems to be such demand for TEFL teachers, teaching abroad seems like the most sensible option for those who want to go away for a while as it gives you the means to settle somewhere and earn a living,” Ruth said.

Originally, Ruth planned to teach for a year but now is leaning toward two or three as she will have the means to support herself while abroad, she said.

“You can work to earn money to travel which is great because it’s so hard to get work to save a travel fund in Ireland at the minute,” Ruth said.

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© i-to-i, 2009