Love Belfast? So do the increasing number of language students coming to learn English in the city, many of whom take courses at International House Belfast, a language school and teacher training centre on University Street in the south of the city. The school welcomes new people to Belfast and in return they send out newly trained teachers abroad to travel the world and teach English in exotic locations all over the planet. The staff at IH Belfast have travelled and worked in over 50 countries between them from Australia to Zambia. The language school is now approaching its 10th birthday and have trained close to 1000 new teacher-travellers giving them each the opportunity to travel the globe. We caught up with Paddy Anderson the teacher training coordinator at the school to ask him about his experiences teaching abroad.
What attracted you to language teaching?
As a 24 year old recent graduate I was itchy to travel and see the world and I had heard that TEFL was a great way to do it. I went to beautiful Seville in the south of Spain for a month to do the CELTA course in 1999 and that got me started on this path. I had friends who had already done the course and been abroad teaching and they inspired me to take the leap.
What were the highlights of your time abroad?
I spent a great year in Ecuador teaching teenagers and travelling a lot around the country to the high Andes, the Amazon and the Galapagos islands. I spent 4 fantastic years in Granada, Spain teaching English to adults and studying the flamenco guitar. I spent a year in France exploring the gorgeous countryside of the south-west of the country and eating amazing food (and getting fatJ). Another great experience was my 8 months working in a travelling theatre troupe doing plays in English for schoolkids in Portugal and Belgium. I met amazing people, many of whom are still good friends today and whom I go back to visit when I can. It was also great that I was able to learn Spanish to a high level, and I still keep that up today, with all my friends in the Spanish-speaking world and Spanish speakers in Belfast.
Of all the places you have lived, where is your favourite?
Andalucía, Spain will always have a very special place in my heart as flamenco is the musical genre which I have chosen as my artistic focus.
What brought you back to Belfast?
Having at first thought that I would never return to NI, eventually I experienced a desire to return home. Belfast had changed for the better in the time I was away (1993-2007) and a two week Christmas visit has ended up being nearly a decade back in the country. I arrived just as Belfast was opening up to the world and when, fortunately for me, foreigners were starting to come looking for English lessons. International House Belfast opened 4 months after I arrived back. It was very good timing!
How does one embark on a career in teaching English as a Foreign Language?
It’s easy! Do the Cambridge CELTA course: a 4 week intensive professional qualification which leads to work anywhere on the planet. CELTA graduates often find work within days of completing the course, and we have graduates from IH Belfast working in every corner of the globe. Popular destinations with strong English Language sectors include South Korea, Vietnam, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Colombia, China, Turkey and Russia. The world is your oyster! TEFL is a great career for people interested in travelling, discovering other cultures and languages and broadening their horizons.
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