{"id":6938,"date":"2020-02-28T18:06:20","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T18:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/?p=6938"},"modified":"2025-12-19T08:24:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T15:24:41","slug":"bridge-grad-hassan-teaching-in-turkey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/bridge-grad-hassan-teaching-in-turkey\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge Grad Hassan, From Tanzania, Teaching in Turkey"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From being a physics and chemistry teacher, Tanzanian teacher, Hassan Kalufya, shifted to TEFL after getting certified with the Bridge via the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/courses\/specialized\/teaching-english-to-young-learners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Teaching Young Learners and Teenagers course<\/a>. In this interview, he tells us about his experience in <a href=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/jobs\/teach-english-in-turkey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Turkey<\/a>, where he has been teaching for the last two years.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6941\" style=\"width: 606px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6941\" class=\"wp-image-6941 \" src=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/nahiipiawinning.jpg\" alt=\"teachers with students in classroom\" width=\"596\" height=\"447\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/nahiipiawinning.jpg 596w, https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/nahiipiawinning-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 596px, 100vw\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-6941\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Hassan and another teacher with his class in Turkey<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Hassan, why did you choose Turkey as your teaching destination and how do you like it there?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It was a coincidence. My brother was here and he told me to come and study here. Then, I started to teach English.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the things that I like about Turkey is the culture. Actually, you have to see it to believe it. Generally, Turkish people are also very generous people; it&#8217;s unbelievable. I\u00a0 have to admit Turkish people are wonderful. I quite enjoy teaching here.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Can you tell us about your current teaching job?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, I am working in an English center. I am teaching students of all levels and all types, from high school, university students to even adults. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes we have conversation and grammar classes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each class could have two to three students, except in conversation classes where I could have five to eight students. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">M<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">y workday starts at around 9 in the morning and ends at around 5 in the evening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6944\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6944\" class=\"wp-image-6944 \" src=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hiijekwasasa.jpg\" alt=\"teacher and student at the whiteboard\" width=\"610\" height=\"457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hiijekwasasa.jpg 610w, https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hiijekwasasa-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 610px, 100vw\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-6944\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Conversation exercises with students<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Can you\u00a0share\u00a0a memorable experience you&#8217;ve had as a teacher?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once, I taught English to a student who was able to establish a consultancy firm with his friend. English is very important in their company as they have projects with the European Union.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6942\" style=\"width: 608px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6942\" class=\"wp-image-6942 \" src=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/schoolingtime.jpg\" alt=\"two teachers in front of a chalkboard\" width=\"598\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/schoolingtime.jpg 598w, https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/schoolingtime-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 598px, 100vw\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-6942\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Hassan with another English teacher<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<h2>If English is not your first language, how has that shaped the way you teach?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Watching television has actually shaped the way I speak now, as I speak English at the level of a person whose mother tongue is English. So,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">it does not matter now that English is not my first language.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6945\" src=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/hassanhaso1.jpg\" alt=\"Hassan, From Tanzania, Teaching in Turkey\" width=\"461\" height=\"615\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><strong>What do you usually do in your free time? Have you traveled around Turkey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I do a couple of things in my free time such as watching TV, reading books, drinking tea, and so on. I have also traveled to some places in Turkey such as Antalya, Istanbul, Cankiri and Burdur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>How long do you think you will teach in Turkey and w<\/strong>hat are your future career goals?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want to improve myself as well as <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the techniques that I use for teaching English.\u00a0<\/span>I really do not know how long I&#8217;ll stay in Turkey; maybe for a few years more or it may be for a long time.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6940 \" src=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/smiling.jpg\" alt=\"smiling teacher\" width=\"563\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/smiling.jpg 563w, https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/smiling-480x360.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 563px, 100vw\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><em>Read more stories about Bridge grads teaching around the world! Meet <a href=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/bridge-grad-tariq-english-teacher-siberia-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tariq in Russia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/esl-volunteer-tanzania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lindsay in Tanzania<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From being a physics and chemistry teacher, Tanzanian teacher, Hassan, shifted to specializing in TEFL for kids and teens after getting certified with Bridge. In this interview, he tells us about his experience in Turkey, where he has been teaching for the last two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7320,"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":[2,6,13],"tags":[],"post-language":[],"popular_posts":[],"class_list":["post-6938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridge-voices","category-global-teachers","category-teach-english-abroad"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/namiwinning-2.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\/6938","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=6938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41079,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6938\/revisions\/41079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6938"},{"taxonomy":"post-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-language?post=6938"},{"taxonomy":"popular_posts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridge.edu\/tefl\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/popular_posts?post=6938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}