Ruth: Korea: Jul 16, 2023

Teaching English has been and still is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. I believe that education is the key to a jubilant future and helping others achieve their goals by imparting knowledge is something I am wholly passionate about.
Over the past four years, I have been working in different countries around the world teaching English as a Second Language. Throughout my time in different countries, not only have I bettered my teaching experience, but each country has taught me valuable life lessons. For example, Saudi Arabia taught me how to adapt to a completely different way of life and how to sensitize lessons to adhere to the culture. England allowed me to take a more academic approach to lessons, and Malta- being a somewhat party island- taught me how to balance work and pleasure.
I have taught all ages from young children/teenagers to adults, levels from A1 beginners to C2 proficient students, and short-term summer students to long term academic students. While working at EF Bournemouth, I taught Arabic scholarship students who started at a low level. My goal was to teach them English, but to prepare them to sit the ielts exam. This was a great achievement for me as when I started with them, their English levels were low. After only six weeks, the difference I noticed in their speaking was incredible- they had gathered enough vocabulary to expand on their answers, and their grammar in practice was better understandable and more coherent.
Before teaching, I studied English Literature and Creative Writing at university. Although I have always loved the English language and writing, my love for the subject strengthened when I got to dive deeper into English in a more academic way, and I could pull apart the reasons for why the language is the way it is. Throughout my degree, I tutored first-year English degree students- with this, I helped them integrate into university life and I assisted with more academic skills such as writing skills, referencing, essay preparation, further education, and taught modules. It was at this moment I realised teaching (and helping others) was my passion.