32-year-old Ewan McMahon from Kilmore in Wexford has worked with City Language School for over a year. Since then he has become one of our most popular teachers. His unique warm and quiet style is very comforting for new students who always speak very positively of his classes. We love here at City Language School and so we thought we would find out a little more about him.
What is Dublin like as a place to live?
I lived in London for a while and it has a lot going on but it’s so big and everything is so spread out and expensive to get to that you end up staying in a small area anyway. Dublin is small but there’s a lot going on culturally and it’s concentrated. You can walk to places or get to places very easily. It’s got a lot of different activities. There’s a lot going on in arts and music.
Why do you like teaching?
The best thing about teaching is learning to be honest. You learn so much from the students and you’re always picking up new things as you go along. I’m really quite shy so this has forced me to meet new people and get out there and meet different nationalities and find out a lot about them.
What advice would you give to some who wants to learn English?
Interact with native speakers. You can see the difference in people who either make the effort to do that or who are forced to speak English because of their work. They improve quickly.
What did you do at University?
I have a degree in Literature and Philosophy from University College Dublin. I had lots of different jobs for a while and lived in London for a few months before coming back here and decided that I wanted to engage my brain again. So I went and got my TEFL accreditation at Swan on Grafton St and have been teaching ever since.
Is City Language School a good place to work?
Firstly, the rest of the teachers are great and even the guys above is in management are great too; they communicate with us and are open. The students are great and the interactive whiteboards are fantastic to work with. Once you get used to them they really can enhance your classes and I think it’s something the students love too.