Marcela - English teacher

About me

In primary school I started with English and Russian, in high school I decided to learn German, at university I studied Portuguese and for my doctorate I also learned a little Spanish.

I always wanted to be a teacher because I feel that knowledge needs to be shared and that, only through international communication, we can resolve important issues such as cooperation between neighbors or common projects (whether in the area of ​​ecology or politics), but also conflicts or disputes between nations and I believe that educating people (especially teaching languages) leads to broadening their horizons and facilitates the exchange of experiences and a better understanding of people.

After graduating, I taught at a language school - both children and adults - English and Portuguese and it was rewarding to see the progress they made after a year or two.
Then I switched to ENS - first teaching English to future doctors and nurses at our university's Faculty of Medicine - I learned a lot about the human body and healthcare for that purpose, which later helped me translate articles for medical journals.
It was a great experience, but only to cover maternity leave.

So, I continued to teach English and Portuguese to students at the Technical University of Košice - serving as a specialist teacher for the Engineering, Civil Construction, Mining, Aviation and Tourism and Hospitality programs.

I faced many challenges until I adapted to students and professionals who think analytically and technically, I learned a lot again and thus built a reputation not only as a teacher but also as a tutor for different projects - under the APVV and VEGA grant schemes and also as a teacher of basic Slovak language and culture for foreign students who came under the Erasmus program.

The terminology enriched my own vocabulary and I gained knowledge on different topics - so I was able to interpret in competitions and translate articles and books from Slovak.

I enjoy applying everything I learn in a wider context - whether in the form of blended teaching/learning or for everyday practice 

Due to some organizational changes, teaching in the Language Department at the university was stopped, so I moved to the corporate sphere.

At Embraco Global I taught English and Portuguese In Company courses lasting 2 years, for L2 level management and employees in direct contact with Embraco's headquarters in the USA and Brazil.
It was again a different task, but I really enjoyed it.
I continued teaching Slovak at Amazon, where I worked as a Catalog Specialist for the Brazil, UK and US market - in a multilingual/multinational team.

Even in the last 2 years, when I worked as a PR & Marketing Manager, I taught an English course for project managers and acted as a translator and interpreter during meetings as part of cross-border cooperation and international travel.

I also had some private students that I taught online - for academic studies or exams (TOEFL, FCE).
2 students were from São Paulo, Brazil, to whom I taught English and Slovak to facilitate the relocation.

As vice principal at the language school and as registrar and school administrator at LEAF Academy - an international boarding school established by the US Embassy in Bratislava, Slovakia, I was responsible for the curricula of the subjects taught and the accreditation process, as well as AP Capstone exams.

I think all these experiences shaped me into the "Patchwork" teacher I am now and with all the webinars and workshops I attended during Covid with a special interest in online tools and new technologies (AI or ChatGPT)