"As a professional language teacher, I must extend my gratitude to everyone at SHM and to CERTELE for giving me the opportunity to collaborate with them on numerous occasions and for offering encouragement and support throughout my career so far.
CERTELE kick-started my career and it proved to be an excellent foundation. I was introduced to real language teaching through CERTELE and as it was a recognised qualification, I was soon offered a job as a Spanish teacher.
The CERTELE style, which is effective but fun, not only guaranteed me professional success but it counted towards my Oposiciones exams and I am now a Secondary School teacher. At first I was surprised by the modern communicative approach but when it is applied in a language classroom both students and teachers are surprised by one common factor – the result. I apply lot of techniques that I picked up on the CERTELE course to my Secondary School classes and they are welcomed by my students."
Lucia Valle
"I decided to do the course as I was extremely interested in teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language but I had neither the qualifications nor the experience. The theory component of the course proved very useful as it taught me about methodology and introduced some useful practical examples. Having said that, the most interesting part of the course was actually teaching a group of students. By doing so, you overcome your own insecurities and actually gain some hands-on teaching practice. Furthermore, you learn to develop your creative side and put what you have learnt into practice. I found the feedback sessions after each class particularly helpful as your classmates and the trainer analyze your teaching style in a nice way. I have some great memories of the school and the teachers.
One month after completing the course I started working in a well-known language school in Granada and I am still working there. I highly recommend it!"
María José Puy
"After finishing my degree in English Philology three years ago, I took the Teacher Training Course at SHM and it turned out to be one of the best moves I ever made.
I had always wanted to be a teacher but I was afraid of speaking in public. During the course I acquired enough confidence to stand up in front ofa group of students and give a class as well as to create and structure my very own lesson plans.
I was a little nervous when I first had to start the practice teaching but I started to relax and eventually I felt perfectly at home giving class. The main reason for this is that I am a native speaker and I felt confident about what I was saying. Secondly, the students studying Spanish are extremely motivated and really interested in the language and the culture. Last but not least, you receive a great deal of support from your classmates and the trainer. There is a great environment and being able to watch your classmates giving class gives you lots of new ideas. The course encourages you to nurture your creative side and helps you come up with imaginative ideas to use in class.
Numerous doors were opened to me after the course. I started off working in SHM for 6 months and then I went to Scotland and was working as a Spanish Assistant in a private school. Having acquired some teaching experience before going to Scotland was most helpful as I was familiar with the different Spanish coursebooks and I was more confident in my own abilities. I learnt from my mistakes and became accustomed to planning classes, taking into account factors such as time restraints, levels and the number of students. I really enjoyed the course, mainly because the idea of teaching Spanish in an inductive and original manner is the best way to learn a language."
