We asked one of our trainees, Zaq, a few questions about his experience during the course so far.
Where are you from and why did you choose the Czech Republic?
I am from San Marcos, Texas. My sister, Jazzmyn, told me about the course about 3 years ago and highly recommended that I choose here. I had read that life here is very safe when compared to most cities, both big and small, in the United States. The locals seemed pretty friendly when I had talked to some expats about life here. When comparing Texas, where you would walk out of the house and get slammed in the face with an immense amount of moisture and start sweating in seconds, and the Czech Republic, where you can go out to any part of Prague and have the time of your life, it is one of the easiest choices I have ever made! This is all without mentioning the astronomical grocery prices and the neglect of public transport systems in the United States.
What do you think of Prague?
After living here for only 2 weeks, I have experienced only a small fraction of the sightseeing activities and tourist attractions most people on a trip here would have been super excited to see. That being said, I have seen at least one new thing every single day I have been here. I haven’t had to go out of my way to go on different routes here to see something new and that is an experience I have only found in a few different places, almost none of which were in the United States. I think Prague may be one of the best spots to live outside of the US, at least in my own personal opinion.
How are you finding the course so far?
With knowing that the last schooling I had partaken in was over 8 years ago, being in the classroom again is a bit of a struggle for me. Grammar is the biggest personal challenge to me. That being said, I do believe that I have it in me to push through the rest of the course. I have now done a peer teach and did a lot better than I thought I was going to, which is a bit of a relief. My classmates also help to make the course much better due to the fact that if I have simple questions that I don’t fully understand but they do, I can simply ask them for help. The trainers we are learning from are a breath of fresh air and I am glad we get to learn from them.
What has surprised you so far (either course related or Prague related)?
I would say that when it comes to Prague, I am so happy that commuting is so easy. I have a bus pass that I only have to pay for once a month and it is pretty universal when it comes to the amount of places you can travel with it. Even if you are going pretty far, the most you are going to be traveling is maybe an hour (at least in my experience so far). When it comes to the course, it has been very surprising how much I didn’t know about the English language that I am only learning about now. I now realize there is so much more to the language that only language schools would be able to teach me.
What are your plans for after the course?
I fully plan on embracing the teaching life after I am finished with the course. I would also love to teach multiple people with different backgrounds to learn about different parts of the world. I have met people from Poland, a lot of local Czech people, some from the UK. I enjoy hearing about the stories and I plan on writing my own stories about here, maybe even implement my storytelling through the use of writing novels and making music again to fully express it!
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