When Seth Knight left seminary after training for the priesthood in Milan for 3 years, he wasn’t quite sure what he’d do next. Qualified in music, and a former professional dancer, Seth knew he loved working with people and performing. Teaching came calling, and a truly unique story followed.In this fascinating episode, we deal with spirituality, navigating important junctures in life, changing direction and what makes teaching such a rewarding and lasting career.--Visit the episode page to l...
Rachael McGettigan had pretty much put any plans to teach and explore Asia aside. It just wasn’t a priority, nor something that seemed realistic - until she happened upon the ‘I Taught English Abroad’ podcast. After listening to our first-ever episode, Rachael caught the travel and teaching bug and hasn’t looked back.We talk about changing career, being inspired by stories of Cambodia, and how she ended up meeting our first podcast guest for a career-affirming evening.-- Visit the episode pag...
It can be difficult when you have parents from two different cultures. Growing up, Lucia identified as both a Londoner and a Canarian, spending different periods of time across the capital of England and Spain, but what was once a tricky balancing act among peers has become a huge strength, and now she teaches English.We caught up with Lucia to find out more about her life and career, and what it was like growing up between two very different lifestyles.---Visit the episode page to learn more...
Through her own company, English With Grace, and from her career in working with refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable groups, it’s no exaggeration to say that Grace Davis has opened doors for all kinds of people through immersive language lessons.We talked about how bilingualism can help in English teaching, putting textbooks to the side and starting an online teaching school.---Visit the episode page to learn more about Grace Davis and to view the episode transcript.Inspired to teac...
We love a unique perspective on ‘I Taught English Abroad’, and if you do, too, try this on for size: Frank Carrizo Zirit has more qualifications than you can shake a stick at, was accepted into university at 16, is a bilingual Venezuelan-American and has both a popular podcast about English teaching, and a considerable following on social media.Suffice it to say, Frank is a singular voice in the English teaching sphere, so we had to get him on our podcast to cover a range of topics from his a...
Fernanda Cwiertnia had planned for a career in chemistry, but after finding herself dissatisfied with life amongst the test tubes and periodic tables, she opted for a career in teaching English, and the results have been fantastic.We talk about teaching approaches, teaching in Brazil, mentoring English teaching talent and more!---Visit the episode page to learn more about Fernanda Cwiertnia and to view the episode transcript.Inspired to teach English abroad? Visit The TEFL Org to learn ...
Benjamin Robson dreamt of Premier League stardom growing up - who doesn’t? - and even played in a couple of notable soccer academies. Now, though, he’s one of the preeminent stars of English pronunciation online, with a formidable following across YouTube and TikTok. We spoke to Benjamin about his teaching journey, life in Valencia and Hamburg, and growing his brand as English Life with Benjamin.--- Visit the episode page to learn more about Benjamin Robson and to view the episode transc...
Pronunciation is an integral part of learning a language, and there are so many different accents, types of English and ways to perceive phrasing. Ellie Caudwell Casey, a linguistics expert so enthusiastic that she wrote 25,000 words on the /r/ sound alone, tells us about finding an audience online, how drilling into the specifics of linguistics and phonetics can help English learners, and why finding a niche is so important.---Visit the episode page to learn more about Ellie Caudwell Casey a...
We don’t meet many TEFL teachers who start in Iran, take online classes with American universities, and then opt to live and work in Italy. But then, we don’t meet many teachers like Roya Abedi.The definition of a determined self-starter, Roya has used social media and online word-of-mouth to start a very popular English teaching business. We hear all about the IELTS, her motivations to leave Iran, and much more.---Visit the episode page to learn more about Roya Abedi and to view the episode ...
Johnny Ward is a one-of-a-kind. Growing up poor in Ireland, Johnny made it his mission to make a career out of doing things that he loved. To say he succeeded is an understatement; Johnny’s been to every nation on earth, climbed the highest peaks, rowed across the Atlantic, visited both Poles, dodged bullets in warzones, lived it up in Turkmenistan and so, so much more - and it all began with TEFL.Trust us: this episode has everything, from a trip to Afghanistan to climbing Everest, as well a...
When he joined TikTok during the pandemic, Michigan-born TEFL teacher Patrick Smith thought it’d be a fun way to kill some time while teaching in Japan. Instead, it turned into an amazing platform for Patrick to share fantastic teaching stories, with over a million followers keeping up with his updates. We talked about the African-American teacher experience in Japan, using social media as a force for good, teaching styles and - somehow - hamsters. ---Visit the episode page to learn more...
How could I Taught English Abroad possibly go bigger than it did last season? How can we outdo ourselves after reaching lots of new listeners, recording in person and even doing some travelling of our own for season 4? Well, it was simple. We stuck to what we do best: great chats with amazing guests. We meet a man who’s travelled to every country, climbed the 7 summits and visited both poles. We meet a teacher who was considered a child genius and went to university at 16. We meet the in...
The idea of the career changer is something we talk about a lot at The TEFL Org. We like to imagine that teaching English can be a get-out from the tiresome commute, the job that remains unfulfilling, the same old.For Andy Korterling, of Can Travel Will Travel and the Pigs on Bikes YouTube channel, that’s exactly what TEFL became. And while it wasn’t the easiest transition from engineer in England to teacher in Cambodia, it worked out extremely well.
How determined does a person have to be to achieve their goals? How highly must the odds be stacked against you for you to give up?Sara Alami, an English teacher from Iran, couldn’t have had a more difficult road to where she is now. She’s the co-founder of an Iranian English language school, teaches online to students around the world and has a massive social media following. But nothing about her background, and how she learned English, would make you think any of what she’s achieved should...
Imagine your first ever teaching experience was in a purpose-built Korean village, where everything was in English. Even if you’ve worked on film or TV sets, or in the entertainment industry in some form, it’d be quite a jarring experience.Well, that’s what happened to Angie White, our next guest, who decided to explore the world of TEFL teaching after some time working in Hollywood. Our second on-location interview in LA, we discuss first lesson nerves, exploring cultural and family heritage...
Let’s be clear - the English language can be difficult. Whether it’s on a conversational level, where idioms stalk almost every sentence, or at the academic level. So, imagine navigating English for both casual chats and textbooks when it’s not even your mother tongue?Our next guest, Cecilia Nobre, grew up in Brazil, absolutely fascinated by language. So, she mastered both conversational and academic English, and has since worked in English universities, and recently, co-authored a book. She’...
We love confidence here on I Taught English Abroad. The confidence to say “I’m going to be a teacher”, for example. The confidence to travel to entirely new places, either having gained employment, or just going to see what you can find. The sheer - as we call it in Scotland - gallus to say “I’m going to do this, and what’s more, I’m going to be good at it”; we like that. So when we met Brittany Yaxley, who called her website and social media presence “She Run the World”, we thought “there’s ...
When it came time to pick somewhere to live and teach in South Korea, Ilsa Strough had loads of options. Seoul and Busan, for example, represent two buzzing, sprawling choices where expat communities are widespread and jobs are plentiful. Except, doing the expected isn’t exactly Ilsa’s way.Hear about how she built an online audience, inspired countless others and fought against the stares and the culture shock of moving to rural South Korea and becoming a popular, talented TEFL talent.Content...
Like many TEFL teachers, Dan Wharton once found himself looking out his window and dreaming of being somewhere else. Somewhere new, somewhere exotic, somewhere totally outside of his previous experiences. He trained as a TEFL teacher, and moved to China - so far, so exciting.The next chapter of his life, however, sets him apart from any other guest we’ve had. His skill and expertise in recruitment saw Dan establish a recruitment company to help other TEFL talents live and work in China. Dan t...
Gav and Em, of the How To English Podcast, first met in art school with designs on breaking into the world of fine art. Over 20 years later, they’ve travelled the world side-by-side as intrepid world explorers and teachers of excellent repute.The duo tell us all about their travels, the challenges they’ve encountered, building a podcast audience and much more in an action-packed hour of conversation.