My experience working in Dreaming California Toledo (Spain)
Full Name: Jordan Lyon.
School: Dreaming California Toledo
Nationality: British
“Even with plenty of teaching experience before I moved to Spain, teaching in Spain has taught me much more than any training could have done”.
“The friendliness and kindness of Spaniards have made my time in Toledo lovely”
My experience working in Dreaming California
Hey! I’m Jordan and I am originally from England. After completing my MA Degree at The University of Leeds, I decided and began working at a kindergarten in Budapest, Hungary for one year.
After my experience in Budapest, I decided I wanted to start teaching in Spain as the wages are better and it’s makes it easier for me to visit my family back in England. After spending 5 months teaching in Caceres, Spain I moved to Toledo, Spain in January 2020 and began working as a English Language Assistant for an Academy called Dreaming California.
English tips from Jordan – Dreaming California
Toledo is one of the friendliest places I’ve been to! Upon arriving I was met by my boss, Laura, at the station, who helped me settle in the city and even helped me find a flat on the night I arrived. As I got to know my boss, we become very close friends and bonded over our shared love for Shania Twain. Without a doubt, this is the best boss I have had and we will remain lifelong friends. The friendship I have with my boss is one of the reasons I enjoy living in Toledo so much.
As many people are when it comes to a new job, I was very nervous and wondered if I would be a good teacher. Even though I have plenty of teaching experience I always find it daunting when starting work at a new school. Luckily, after my first day teaching, any doubts I had were put to one side as I soon found a way to adapt my teaching style to suit the needs of the academy. At Dreaming California, the main goal is to teach English and this can be done in many different methods. The main objective in our academy is that you can learn practical English with native teachers, under a methodology without books, but under a structured program and with real simulations. English classes are reinforced through good pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, oral and reading skills. All classes are divided into levels and at the end of each level there is the possibility of certifying your level through TOELF or TOEIC. We also provide one to one sessions for those who want to work more independently. One method that surprised was the “Fun” way of learning English. In this style of teaching, the focus is more on conversation and ensuring that the students feel confident in talking English. In this lesson, student and provided with food and even beer is they wish! Although I have only worked at Dreaming California for a few months, it has allowed myself to improve on my abilities as a teacher and become more confident in being a language assistant and taught me many features of being a teacher that I didn’t learn in university.
Life in Spain is brilliant. Tapas is delicious and with bars, cafes and restaurants on every corner, it’s hard to get bored. The scenario is brilliant too and makes greats pictures for Instagram. Due to the fact that I live so close to Madrid, it has made travelling around Spain so fun and easy. The ease of travelling has allowed me to make friends of all different nationalities across the country. So far, Valencia is my favorite to visit.
Although, as it has for most of us, the Coronavirus has completely changed the way we live and work. Confined to my flat, I am now teaching online for Dreaming California. With no experience with Online Teaching, the experience could have being a complete nightmare, especially since none of us knew how long the lockdown would last for. But as always, we worked together and made the change work well. With plenty of resources and guidance with what software to use, it made the changes to the classes seem smooth. The experience of working from home has allowed me to expand on my skills as a teacher and I can’t wait to be back in the classroom environment so I can bring these new skills into my style of teaching.
Whilst the academy is only small, we make a great team and always help each other out. With such a friendly and helpful atmosphere, it a pleasure to work with such lovely people.
All in all, moving to Spain has being a delight so far and even though the Coronavirus has brought challenges, working with people that are so kind and helpful have made it all so much easier.
Si quieres tener classes con Jordan o cualquier otro de nuestros profesores nativos, entra y conócenos.
My experience working in Dreaming California – Jordan.
