From Australia to Costa Rica, Laura made her dream come true through Costa Rica TEFL. Laura is 24 years young and completed her TEFL course in August 2024 with Costa Rica TEFL. Since then, she has learned how to live the ‘pura vida’ lifestyle and become a thriving English teacher in Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica. Keep reading to find out more about her experience during and after the Costa Rica TEFL program.
“This experience is priceless”
Laura chose the Costa Rica TEFL course to complete her TEFL certification because it is internationally accredited and located in a beautiful beach town. She had very little prior teaching experience but after learning the CRTEFL methodology through training and real-life teaching practice, she felt prepared to teach immediately after the four week course.
One of the best experiences that Laura got out of the program was the amazing friends that she made. The “see you later”s were a bit tough, but she already made her way back to Samara for a visit with a few friends.
There are various things that the trainees learn throughout the four weeks, but each of them identify the most important thing that they learned during training. For Laura, this is “to take feedback and implement it, to ask for help when I need it, and most importantly how to teach English”.
Teaching in Costa Rica
For many, coffee is necessary before starting a work day. Laura is one of them! As soon as she gets to school, she pours her cup of coffee to get her going for her day of teaching. Before her first class she does some lesson prepping and then she’s on to teach, teach and teach some more.
Her favorite teaching memory from training at Costa Rica TEFL is when all of the kids ran up to her and hugged her at the end of her class. After this experirence she knew she wanted to work with kids. Now she is lucky enough to teach children in a school in Ciudad Quesada! Laura’s favorite part of teaching is bonding with the kids. Additionally, she loves being able to give them life skills that they will benefit from in the future.
Life in Costa Rica
People don’t just move to Costa Rica because it’s a different country, people move to Costa Rica because of its ambiance and culture. Laura’s favorite aspects of Costa Rica are the super friendly people, how accommodating the Ticos are to foreigners and the ability to improve and practice her Spanish!
In her free time she works on the book that she is writing, explores nature around Ciudad Quesada and kicks it with her colleagues and host family.
Live your time to the fullest!
If there is any advice that Laura could give to anyone considering doing the Costa Rica TEFL course and teaching in Costa Rica, it would be ‘live your time to the fullest’! Laura advises to prepare yourself for the CRTEFL course and being in school during your four weeks here in Samara. Furthermore, make sure that you make the time to enjoy Samara outside of school.
Pura vida isn’t just a fun slogan to say around here in Costa Rica, but a real way of life. Laura learned how to live the ‘pura vida’ lifestyle right out of the gate. So much so that she mentions, “if you’re not a ‘go with the flow’ kind of person, you’ll learn how to be very quickly in Costa Rica”.
A dream come true through TEFL
At Costa Rica TEFL, we strive to prepare and support all of our trainees in the best way that we can. It is our goal to aid our trainees in the acquisition of the necessary expertise to be skillful, compassionate, creative and most importantly, effective English teachers.
Laura has extended her graciousness to Costa Rica TEFL:
“They made all of the hard days a little easier, and are the best team of cheerleaders.”
“If something were to happen, I know I’d be able to reach out to the guys at CRTEFL for help.”
Thank you, Laura! Pura vida!!
Send us an email at info@costaricatefl.com for more information or for an application form!
By: Alexis Lattin
Administrative Coordinator CRTEFL