Meet Nathan, a CELTA graduate and global traveller. After graduating from his CELTA course, Nathan has gone on to teach in New York at OHC English. We got to have a chat with him about his experiences with teaching at OHC English , his teaching style and any advice for those wanting to follow in his footsteps.   

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Tell us a bit about yourself!

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I have lived in NYC for twenty-five years and have also lived in Madrid and London. Travel, art, fashion, music, and writing are some of my main passions. I love the English language and playing with words/language and learning as much as I can to broaden my knowledge.

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What prompted you to take the leap into teaching English language?

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A friend in 2018 brought up the option of being a language assistant teacher in Spain for the year, which I thought was a great idea, considering I was wanting to return to my writing and English academic roots. 

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That year abroad, I saw how enjoyable the teaching experience could be and decided to take the CELTA course. During the CELTA I enjoyed how everyday was a new focus, something completely new to learn about the teaching process.

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Tell us about your role at OHC English?

I am a teacher at OHC in NYC. My class is advanced and four and half hours long, daily. The first hour of class is devoted to warm-up activities, learning new vocabulary, pair chats, different games/exercises/activities, and homework review. The following hours are centered around the lessons in the book, group topic chats, and other lessons I create curated to the current learners.

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What about the challenging parts of your job? 

Quickly adapting to new learners' personalities and unique learning styles can be challenging. Patience and giving each learner individual attention and time helps these issues.

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Is there any advice you can give to fellow teachers like yourself? 

For long classes, make sure you include reading, writing, listening, speaking and pronunciation all in one class. Ask the learners what they want or need to learn. Allow the students to talk as much as you can. Let the students work together and learn from each other as well.

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If you’re interested in our CELTA and DELTA courses we’d love to hear from you. For more details head to our applications page here. 

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