 |
 |
 |
|
Sarah |
John |
Teaching Overseas
Sarah talks about teaching abroad in several different countries.
John: So Sarah, you're an English teacher, right?
Sarah: That's right.
John: You must have taught in many countries before.
Sarah: Yeah, I did. I taught in the USA, in Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan and Ecuador.
John: Oh, Ecuador.
Sarah: Yeah.
John: So you must be able to speak Spanish very well.
Sarah: I think so. I studied really hard, and then when I lived in Ecuador, I spent a lot of time talking to people.
John: Did you teach Spanish, too?
Sarah: No, I didn't. When I lived in Ecuador actually, I volunteered for the United Nations.
John: Wow.
Sarah: And I taught families and they were being relocated to Canada because they were fleeing the drug wars of Colombia.
John: Wow.
Sarah: So I felt very badly for these families but they had a really bright future. So that was good. But then one week, I had a family, a couple of families and they were being relocated to Sweden.
John: Oh.
Sarah: And I said, "I can't teach them Swedish." And the UN said, "Well, maybe just teach them English." So I thought, they're going to Sweden, they don't need to learn English right now. And my friend at the time – she's Norwegian, and we were living together. And every day, she helped me to learn a little bit of Swedish. Just enough for one class so that I could teach these families…
John: Wait, wait.
Sarah: …some Swedish.
John: You were teaching Swedish language?
Sarah: Yes.
John: You are an English speaker.
Sarah: Yes.
John: You lived in Ecuador.
Sarah: Yes.
John: And a Norwegian person taught you Swedish.
Sarah: Yes.
John: So you could teach Swedish to people from Ecuador.
Sarah: From Colombia, currently living in Ecuador.
John: So they could move to Sweden.
Sarah: Yes.
John: And you did this as a volunteer.
Sarah: Yeah. I wanted to help people. So I moved to Ecuador and I got a volunteer job with the United Nations to help teach people but I never thought I would be teaching Swedish.
John: Wow.
Sarah: Yeah. It was a lot of fun.
John: I would like to try that someday, too.
Sarah: You can do it.
Related Video - One Minute English
About the Teacher / Creator
Hello, and welcome to elllo. My name is Todd Beuckens. I've been an ESL teacher for 25 years. I created elllo to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.
Contact Me Here
