With Lexis Perth’s first CELTA course starting in June, we caught up with Lexis Perth Campaus Manager, Lindsey Marchant to talk about where teaching English has taken her.
I’d been living and working overseas as a circus instructor when I returned home to Perth and didn’t know what to do next. I had a degree in Graphic Design but having not used it I was not confident to go looking for jobs and also wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue this path. I had been living all over Asia working and teaching people from all over the world and didn’t want to lose that international side of my life. It was when my mum suggested I do my CELTA that I looked into it.
Having grown up in Singapore for 11 years and then moving to Australia for High School I had always had travel in my blood. The moment I was old enough to head overseas I was off. When I looked back at my time traveling, the common factor I could come up with was that everywhere I had been I was teaching something. When I returned to Perth I didn’t think it was forever so I wanted something that would give me opportunities wherever in the world I was.
I looked into the CELTA and everywhere I went the information I was given was this is the Certificate you need if you want to be serious about getting a job in the industry. So I embarked on the CELTA course in Perth in early 2009 and haven’t looked back. I completed the CELTA and within a week I had a job. The CELTA course was extremely demanding but by the time I stepped into the classroom for the first time I was prepared and felt I had the knowledge and teaching strategies to succeed. I was also very lucky that the school I started working at was where I did my CELTA so I still had the support when I needed it.
Life as an ESL teacher is great. I have made amazing friends and now have contacts all over the world. I travelled to Brazil in 2012 and visited 10 different cities and had contacts and places to stay in nearly every stop I made. The CELTA really does open your doors to the world and friendships.
From the 18 people on my CELTA course I know some of them have travelled to countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, China, France, Saudi Arabia, Japan, just to mention a few for teaching jobs.
Although I have not left Perth for teaching, as I initially planned, I decided to take a different direction and after a few years of teaching I decided to get a Diploma of Education. I moved onto a year of relief teaching mixed with part time ESL work. I soon realised I came home every day with a headache after teaching children! This led me to realise that my love of teaching was to adults. Adults are generally here as they really want to learn to improve their lives by learning English.
From here on in I focused on my career in ESL. I soon moved into more of an administration side of ESL, mixing a few days a week of homestay with the rest of the week teaching. This opened my eyes up to what else was available in the industry. I soon decided to move on to do my DELTA so went to Vietnam to do this.
With my Cambridge CELTA and DELTA more opportunities arose and I soon started working with Lexis English in Perth as the Campus Manager. This opportunity has enabled me to work closely with 4 other Lexis schools on the East Coast of Australia and learn and develop with a team of amazing Academic staff and Campus Managers. I have been able to develop a team of 25 teachers and 6 administration staff and helped implement new courses into the Perth Campus. Every day is a new day and it is never boring.
My friends often ask me about my job and I always tell them, if you want to start a new career this is for you. If you want a flexible, fun work environment or if you want to travel, work is available all over the world. You just need to start by doing your CELTA!
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