Tomy Joseph

With 12 years as an English language Instructor at a university in Saudi Arabia and over 10 years earlier at schools in the Maldives (Cambridge IGCSE) and in India (CBSE), I am currently engaged in training students for IELTS here in my home state of Kerala. Qualification-wise I have an MA in English and and a BEd in teaching English. Later on I did my CELTA at the University of Sheffield, UK. I am on the lookout for better openings in the Middle East.

As one with an abiding passion for teaching English and being familiar with the challenges associated, I look forward to being interviewed. 

My last major stint was as an English language instructor at Northern Border University which was initially a branch of King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. I was there for 12 years and teaching students with little or no exposure to English language, it was indeed challenging. I had to deploy every method in my resources to drive home the lesson planned. But it was real fun and without resorting to the so-called translation method, which I never encourage, I could achieve the desired goals, and the students rally began to enjoy learning this most popular international language. My philosophy is that exposure in the target language is the most crucial factor in learning an alien tongue. For me it has succeeded in India, the Maldives and in Saudi Arabia too.

CELTA was the latest course that I did and it was at ELTC, University of Sheffield, UK. It was a wonderful experience to be a student in a class with classmates from different parts of the world. I cherish every moment there as it was precious learning the various methods and developments in the field of teaching English. Earlier I had done my BEd at the University of Calicut in India, and was exclusively about teaching the different branches of English literature and language to school students. My MA and BA are also in English language and literature, which I did at St. Joseph's College under the University of Calicut. It was nothing but my love for English that prompted me to specialize in it and the same fascination continues undimmed. Quite recently, in preparation for my IELTS teaching, I attended a Masterclass for trainers at the British Council, India.