Martina Sápi,estudiante en práctica del programa europeo Erasmus + que nos llega desde Hungría nos relata su experiencia en el IES César Manrique y Lanzarote!!!

Hi Everyone! 

I am Martina Sápi, 27 years old, and I am from Hungary. After graduating from University of Szeged as an English language and culture teacher, I came to Arrecife, Lanzarote in February, 2015, to start my Erasmus+ scholarship. 

Though I am quite a relaxed person, I remember I was very nervous on my first day on the Island: I had left my cosy and comfortable life behind, and I had to build up everything again; I knew no one and nothing, including Spanish. I was taken to my new workplace, IES César Manrique, and was introduced to my colleagues who made me feel so welcome that I quickly forgot about my fears. I remember, I had so much fun on my first day that by the end of it, I had sore facial muscles from having been smiling constantly. 

I started working the following Monday as an English teacher assistant in both English and Physical Education classes. I got my timetable: I was going to work with 12 classes from 1 ESO to 4 ESO, so almost with all the students in the school for which I was very glad because it meant that (hopefully) I would experience more. It was obvious from the beginning that students are more impulsive and talkative; and that student-teacher relationship is handled in a less formal way than in Hungary. The students were more willing to participate in speaking activities, I always had a volunteer when I needed and we laughed a lot. But this openness and activity have its drawbacks as well: sometimes I found it difficult to make students focus for longer time and pay attention to me and each other. 

My colleagues made my work and life easier in every possible way. They gave me free hands to do whatever I had in mind so I could design and try out my own materials, the point was to improve oral communication skills. They helped me with everything they could; both in school and in my personal life. They were always cheerful, flexible and I learnt a lot from them as they proved to be excellent teachers and fantastic people. I could not be more thankful, my stay would have been much less colourful if it were not for them. 

All in all, it has not been easy, I had my ups and downs, but it definitely has been the time of my life! 

Vivá las Canarias!