May, 2018

VIVA ESPAÑA!

In May 2018, when eagerly searching online for a program where I could teach

English abroad for Summer 2018, I came across a listing on the International Job Board of Dave’s ESL Cafe that seemed too good to be true: “Earn your TEFL in June, and be GUARANTEED a summer camp job in July!” I clicked on this link, and this is when I first learned of Canterbury English TEFL in Madrid, Spain. Being that I had never heard of this school, I will admit that I was skeptical at first about the validity of the school’s claims and programs. After doing extensive and careful research online about the school and it’s programs, I wrote to the email address provided on the Canterbury’s homepage.

A day or two later, a man named Sir Richard Clarke responded to my email inquiry about Canterbury English TEFL program. I expressed my interest in the program, and he scheduled a Skype interview with me to see if I would be a strong prospective student for the school. A few days later, Richard and I “met” for the first time via Skype, and we had an informal discussion about Canterbury. I was now even more interested in attending the school, and shortly after my talk with Richard, I submitted my online application to Canterbury for the June 2018 TEFL course.

I was overjoyed when Richard notified me a few days later that I had been accepted to the Canterbury English TEFL progam! It was late May 2018 when I applied, so I literally had less than 10 days from the time I was notified of my acceptance, to the day that I would begin my TEFL course in Spain. What a fast turnaround!

I arrived to Madrid the night before my first day of class at Canterbury English TEFL. The following day, I had the opportunity to visit Canterbury English TEFL for the first time. I was very relieved that there was an elevator that went to the second floor of the building, as it was somewhat difficult for me to climb steps at the time. A week before I moved to Spain for the summer, I ruptured my left Achilles tendon while playing tennis. What horrible timing! Despite my injury, since I didn’t have the best health insurance at the time anyway, I didn’t want to incur a large hospital bill by getting surgery that summer instead of going to Spain. For better or worse, I went to Spain with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Call me crazy, but I knew that the Summer of 2018 would be my first, and maybe only opportunity – to ever live and work abroad, and that tomorrow is not promised. Torn Achilles and all, I spent two months last summer in Spain – one month in Madrid (June 2018) while studying full-time at Canterbury English TEFL, and July 2018 at the Pebetero English Immersion Summer Camp in Bocigas, a small, rural, quiet, village with fewer than 100 residents and located 90 minutes northwest of Madrid. When Richard found out about my injury, he immediately put me in a taxi and sent me directly to his physiotherapist who did wonders for my ankle and this help got me through the summer!

Living in Madrid and earning my TEFL Certificate from Canterbury English is one of the greatest achievements of my life. After regretfully missing opportunities in secondary school and college to live and study abroad, this was finally my chance to fulfill my long-held of living abroad, even if it was only for two months. Now I will focus on my experience as a student at Canterbury English. The professors and Director of the school are phenomenal. They are experts in the field of teaching English as a foreign language, are passionate about helping students become well-equipped TEFL teachers, have a great sense of humor, and are highly competent and confident in their subject matter. The quality of instruction is highly rigorous and challenging, and you will constantly be studying for quizzes, typing papers, and preparing to teach lesson plans if you want to pass the class with a B or better. Luckily some of my learning strengths lie in reading and writing, so no more than one or two writing assignments were difficult for me. In my opinion, the most challenging learning aspects of the TEFL Course were the public speaking presentations related to our research papers, successfully teaching lessons to actual ESL students of Canterbury English , and passing all or most of the English grammar quizes. I share all this information about the course to convey to others the fact that I am highly satisfied with the education and training I learned from Canterbury English.

I had plenty of time outside of class to tend to my academics, as well as have a social life. I became friends with all of my classmates – they were from India, America, and Venezuela. We bonded and laughed together often, and enjoyed working on creative projects and assignments together. We also had an International Food Day for lunch at Canterbury English one day in which we all brought international foods to sample from one another. We would also hang out together outside of class – one of my classmates from India cooked cooked a delicious traditional meal for me from her country when I visited her apartment that summer. She and I still keep in touch, and I will be visiting her soon in India or Canada where she will soon be emigrating to.

While I have visited several nice cities around the world, Madrid is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever lived in and visited. It is also the largest city I have ever lived in. Ironically, the Summer of 2018 was also the one where I lived in the smallest city I have ever experienced living in, which was Bocigas, Spain. In Madrid, I had the opportunity of visiting great museums such as El Prado and El Museo de Romanticismo. I walked around and rowed a canoe with a friend on the man-made lake at the world-famous Retiro Park. I was able to have classic Spanish dishes such as gazpacho, paella, and croquetas, and I saw doctors in Spain who helped treat my Achilles tendon. Miraculously, I didn’t hurt my ankle any further in Spain, what a relief! I eventually got ankle surgery upon returning to America and getting better health insurance.

In addition to my classmates, I also befriended others while living in Madrid – I made new friends from the hostel where I stayed, at the airport, and while walking around beautiful places such as Retiro Park. I also met some wonderful colleagues and supervisors when working at the Pebetero English Immersion Overnight Camp in rural and tiny Bocigas, Spain. To this day I still keep in touch with many of my colleagues from Bocigas Camp. I spent a month living at the camp, and taught English as a Foreign Language to 11-14 year olds. I used games, songs, arts and crafts, and other creative activities to help students acquire English. In addition to teaching English, I monitored students during meals, excursions, while swimming in the camp pool or lake, during fun outdoor games and activities, and during the Closing Program and talent show.

In closing, I had the experience of a lifetime living, studying, and teaching in Spain. I truly regard Spain as my second home outside my native United States, as I feel so welcome there. I love Spanish culture, the Spanish language, and Spanish people. I love the rich history and colorful, majestic architecture of Madrid. What I am also ecstatic about is the fact that I will be returning to Spain this summer to take a one-week Spanish course at Inhispania in Madrid before working for another Pebetero summer camp. Spain, here I come – again!

Victoria Flack, New Jersey, USA

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