{"id":1922,"date":"2019-06-17T09:15:39","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T09:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=1922"},"modified":"2025-12-08T09:36:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:36:24","slug":"filipino-english-teacher-chile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/filipino-english-teacher-chile\/","title":{"rendered":"April, from the Philippines, Teaching Business English in Chile"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Whether it\u2019s changing the daily route to work or getting into new hobbies, stepping out of our comfort zones can mean different things for different people. For April Descallar, a Filipino English teacher in Chile<\/a>, this meant exploring unfamiliar places and crossing borders.<\/p>\n

Starting Her Career<\/h2>\n

Some years ago, her career was headed down a path quite different from ESL. A graduate of a program in Hotel and Restaurant Management, she first worked as a hotelier in the Philippines. \u201cI like meeting people, \u201cApril says. \u201cIn that job, I was exposed to diverse personas, whether local or foreign people.\u201d She also took a pastry arts course, which she used to start her own home-based freelance baking business.<\/p>\n

However, she felt the need to move to another place, so she quit her hotel job in her hometown. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to stay in my home and be too comfortable,\u201d she says. From the countryside she grew up in, she ventured out to Cebu, one of the biggest cities in the Philippines, with her Chilean husband. \u201cWe decided to move with nothing and start from zero, as we arrived there without any job.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Shift to Teaching English in the Philippines<\/h2>\n

Recalling that she had also volunteered in educational outreach programs back in her college days, April thought about the fact that she had always enjoyed the field of education. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be part of someone else\u2019s life, through teaching.\u201d So, in Cebu, she joined an ESL teaching workshop, since it’s a popular destination for Korean and Japanese people who want to learn English.\u00a0At the same time, she helped her husband with developing his foundation, Crecer M\u00e1s<\/em>, which aims to support public schools by conducting robotics classes.<\/p>\n

All of this was put to a halt, however, when the couple decided to move to Chile.<\/p>\n

\"Teacher<\/p>\n

April, during our outreach work in the Philippines<\/em><\/p>\n

New Home in Chile, New English Teaching Adventures<\/h2>\n

April recalls how she started her teaching stint in Chile.\u201c I chose teaching English because I think that we, as people, should focus on the things that we believe we’re good at.\u201d After undergoing training at BridgeChile in Santiago,<\/a> April formally started teaching Business English classes to professionals in various companies in the city. This was, however, not without its challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the challenges I had to overcome was my anxiety,\u201d she says. \u201cI had moments wherein I doubted myself, but I got over it. Now, I just have to meditate and reassure myself that I can continue.\u201d Aside from this, she also had to sharpen her lesson planning skills. \u201cIt was difficult at first, as I always had to think about the right material for my classes. I asked for help from more experienced teachers. That helped a lot. Now, it\u2019s easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"April,<\/p>\n

Regarding her future plans, she intends to continue down this ESL path she has started\u2013\u00a0one in which she struggled at first, then eventually succeeded. She is looking forward to being more creative as a teacher, developing not only materials but also class strategies for various student levels. In her words, \u201cTeaching English means going out of your comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

To browse open teaching positions (including at Bridge!), check out the Bridge Job Board<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to April, a Filipino English teacher in Chile, \u201cTeaching English means going out of your comfort zone.\u201d She should know\u2013\u00a0her path started out in her small home town and led her to different cities, continents, and adventures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[2,6,10,13],"tags":[],"post-language":[],"popular_posts":[],"class_list":["post-1922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridge-voices","category-global-teachers","category-pedagogy","category-teach-english-abroad"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/FB_IMG_1543953334610-1.jpg","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\/1922","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=1922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40945,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922\/revisions\/40945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1922"},{"taxonomy":"post-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-language?post=1922"},{"taxonomy":"popular_posts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/popular_posts?post=1922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}