{"id":14216,"date":"2021-06-09T07:31:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T13:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=14216"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T01:54:12","slug":"gabriela-from-mexico-teaching-efl-at-international-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/gabriela-from-mexico-teaching-efl-at-international-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabriela, From Mexico, Teaching English at an International School"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Gabriela del Carmen Sanch\u00e9z, from Mexico, turned her fondness for the English language into a career. Already an EFL teacher with years of experience under her belt, she recently completed Bridge’s graduate-level TEFL\/TESOL course, the IDELTOnline<\/a>, to advance her career. Now, with her latest credentials, she hopes to transition from her current role as a substitute EFL teacher at an international school in Mexico City into a full-time teaching position there.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Gabriela?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m from Mexico. I hold a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature. I began learning English when was I was young, and I loved it! Then, little by little, I got involved in courses, programs, workshops, etc. that had to do with English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you get into the teaching field?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I started teaching English at 21 so I have basically always been an English teacher. I was studying English at a language institute and then I got a job at the same place, which gave me the opportunity to revisit several courses I had taken before to improve my level of the language. Then, I decided to enroll in the teacher’s course and began my first lessons. It’s been 40 years since then and I am still learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you currently live?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I live in the Xochimilco area in Mexico City. Xochimilco is famous for its canals, where visitors have a great time enjoying a short trip on a boat while listening to Mariachi music and eating some typical food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you like most about teaching in Mexico?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mexico City is my hometown and I feel proud of it because it is an amazing place where culture, gastronomy, joy, beautiful landscapes, and friendly people join together to make this a fantastic place for living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Gabriela<\/a>
Gabriela (left) with one of her students<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about your teaching job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I currently work as a substitute teacher to middle school students at a K-12 international school in Mexico City, where English is the main language spoken. I got the job while I was finishing my bachelor’s degree so I was looking for an administrative job in order to have more time to complete my studies. Since then, I\u2019ve had three different positions at the same place. I am very happy now that the school is considering me for a teaching position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out what types of job opportunities you can grab as a TEFL\/TESOL-certified teacher. <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you like to do when you\u2019re not working?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I like reading, swimming, walking my dog to the park, and eating ice cream<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the COVID-19 crisis affected you as an English teacher?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was about to lose my job but fortunately, I have been confirmed that I am returning next school term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gabriela (right) with two of her high school students<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You just completed Bridge’s International Diploma in English Langauge Teaching course<\/a>. Why did you choose this program and how has it helped you professionally?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A colleague recommended this course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved it. It made me learn about English teaching techniques, principles, and theory, as well as identify a better way to help students when learning. I think it helped me keep my job and have the opportunity to be considered for a teaching position as an EFL teacher. Before this, I had been an ESL teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the difference between an EFL and ESL teacher? Here\u2019s an explanation.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was your main strategy to ace this course?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Constant reading of the different chapters in the book as well as the extended readings, along with submitting my assignments on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read other IDELTOnline grads\u2019 tips on succeeding in this course.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your plans for the next weeks or months as the world deals with the global pandemic?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s very likely that I’ll start teaching English as an EFL teacher, which makes me happy and enthusiastic about continuing my learning adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read our interview with another Mexican teacher, Andr\u00e9s, who runs his own online EFL school.<\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Already an EFL teacher, Gabriela completed Bridge’s graduate-level TEFL\/TESOL course to advance her career. With her latest credentials, she now hopes to transition from substitute to full-time EFL teacher at the international school in Mexico City where she works.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,890,6],"tags":[],"post-language":[],"popular_posts":[],"class_list":["post-14216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridge-voices","category-career-teachers","category-global-teachers"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Garbriela-del-Carmen-Blog-Interview-Image-1.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Krzl Light Nu\u00f1es","author_link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/author\/krzlnunesgmail-com\/"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30545,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14216\/revisions\/30545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14216"},{"taxonomy":"post-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-language?post=14216"},{"taxonomy":"popular_posts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/popular_posts?post=14216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}