Evie Prentoulis
I recently changed schools and after 9 years of teaching French and
Spanish to high school kids (young adults, really!) I am now an EFL
teacher for 6 and 7 year olds in a Montessori school in Prague. Quite a
change - and I needed training to teach my own language. Taking the
course in July in order to be certified, I found myself returning to the
grass roots of teaching. Even with 9 years experience, it was
refreshing to be in the classroom as a student once again, and to be
taught how to teach my native language by expert instructors. I regained
confidence as a educator (after 3 years of doing more to do with
bureaucracy and technology than teaching, working hard and never being
appreciated) and was delighted with the positive and constructive
feedback I got from fellow trainees and from the instructors. ITTP is
very well organized and delivers on its promise; the instructors were
not only scholars in their field (linguistics and teaching principles
and methodology) but also amazing teachers. It was great to be there as a
student and to be reminded of what it takes to be an effective teacher -
even after so many years of my professional experience as a foreign
language teacher. Most or all trainees got a job before the course was
even completed and I am sure are embarking on their teaching career with
confidence, as I am! I am delighted with the training I got and excited
to have a qualification that allows me to work pretty much anywhere in
the world.
