Fantastic Opportunity

This program is close to my heart since I was born in Colombia. I migrated with my family to Canada when I was nine and assimilated easily to life in Toronto. After graduating University, I decided to teach abroad for a year and Cultural Embrace by API's program to teach in Colombia seemed a prefect fit; an opportunity that would allow me to get reacquainted with my Colombian roots. My background, therefore, has influenced how I view this program quite a bit. Speaking just for the program, my day to day life consisted of two classes which were an hour and a half in length. We were told we would teach an instructor class, but it wasn't until the second semester that I acquired one. My schedule was very relaxed since there was so much free time, however I did spend a lot of time planning lessons since we were not given a curriculum and I had never taught before. Although we were given a week of training in Bogota, I felt what I truly learned about lesson planning was definitely based on my teaching experience in the classroom. At times this program was disorganized: we were not fully informed about how to grade students on a program called Sofia Plus, we sometimes had to search for classroom space because there was a problem with the one we were given, and instructor classes were always a bit ambiguous (even when I was given one attendance was very low because teachers have such a busy schedule).
However, despite these problems, the students were very friendly and humorous, and teachers were also very welcoming. The SENA centre itself is quite nice; it is a very illuminated building and the teacher's lounge on the fifth floor is a great space for working, relaxing, or having lunch with coworkers while not dictating class. Overall, my experience teaching English in Medellin was fantastic; I learned innumerable lessons and it was a great growth opportunity, both personally and professionally. Medellin is a beautiful place to live and I would recommend this program to someone who was considering teaching in South America.