Donal Casey
What is your favourite travel experience
Most recently: Japan.
What is your favourite part of the weekend course?
The foreign language lesson and the teaching practices.
What made you want to be a TEFL Tutor?
I wanted to put my years of experience teaching English abroad to some use when I moved back to Ireland.
What countries have you taught in, for how long, and travelled to?
I’ve taught in Spain, for twelve years, Ireland for six years now, and Germany for a week! I've (travelled) around Europe, to the US and to Japan.
Had you done any teaching experience before taking your own TEFL course?
No, I was still a college student.
What do you think are the benefits of TEFL teaching or having a TEFL qualification?
It's a wonderful way to get to know another culture from the inside. A qualification in TEFL ensures that you will get a good job, as conditions can vary a lot; it also trains you to know what to actually do once you are put in front a class for the first time.
What did you enjoy the most about teaching and travelling?
I enjoyed meeting different people from all over the world and surprised myself by really enjoying the experience of learning Spanish, as I was bad at foreign languages at school.
How has TEFL broadened your travel experiences? Do you have any future plans?
I got to know Spain extremely well, and would rather know one or two countries deeply than get to know many countries superficially…I plan to continue living in Dublin, where - along with my work as an i-to-i TEFL tutor - I work as a lecturer at Dublin Business School and director of a small language and intercultural training company.
What can participants expect from your course?
They will enjoy themselves more than they would expect from a course; and will also learn a lot in just two days about the real nuts and bolts of teaching English as a foreign language.
