Today Joe Candelario is on a clear career path – he recently came back from teaching English in the Czech Republic, and is currently working as a facilitator at the American Language Institute (ALI) at San Diego State University (SDSU).
However, after graduating college Candelario wasn’t so sure of a direction. When a friend told him about the ALI, he decided to take a chance and move forward with his future. “I thought the teacher training program sounded like a good idea, so after thinking about it for a couple months, I decided to go through with it and enrolled in the TESL/TEFL certificate program,” he said.
After graduating from the program, Candelario found a position as an English teacher in the Czech Republic. He was able to teach young children from the age of kindergarten to third grade. However, what he learned from the ALI teacher training program is what he says helped him teach English successfully. “One of the most important things that I got from Van [director] was to be prepared, have contingency plans, and always be flexible, so you can pull something out of your hat if something goes wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I forgot to bring my lesson plans or English cards. I would have to think of something on the spot, so that flexibility and multifaceted skill set really helped out teaching in the Czech Republic.”
Candelario has taught at a summer camp in France and still plans to teach abroad either in Europe or South America. He definitely recommends the program for “anyone who is adventurous and is always looking to learn new things.” He also advises that, “It pays off to know, to meet, and to network when you are living abroad because you never know what is in your future.”
