What inspired you to work for Westminster College London, Chennai?
It's the man behind the hard work and vision of producing quality English Language Teachers and trainers who will serve the world ardently. The institute takes utmost care of the teachers and provides them with everything they require in no time.
I teach free English classes for underprivileged students and they are overwhelmed with joy for having learned a new language.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My favourite part of my job is when my students ask for help and when I clear their doubts. When all of them are satisfied, I feel very happy and satisfied that I've taught my students and made them feel more at ease.
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
I use my experience in educating students with international courses like TESOL certificate, TESOL Diploma, and degree programmes in TESOL like BA, MA in TESOL, and research courses in TESOL.
What challenges do you often face and how do you overcome them?
It's the students’ concentration level which is very low. That's the only challenge, to engage them throughout the day—though we have various activities like warmers, teaching sessions, etc. Besides that, there really are no challenges.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Take health insurance, organize enough classroom activities, have a multilingual dictionary, research the culture of your destination that you are going to, and learn some local numbers or information for emergencies.
What makes your organization special?
Westminster College London is always special because of the leader who is so dedicated that he would do anything for the upliftment and development of the students, which in turn will directly reflect on the institution.
Westminster College London is in constant search of destinations where people are from very poor backgrounds and where there are no proper facilities or educational progress. Our organization finds such places and goes there to educate people, which paves way for the development of the place and the entire society as a whole.
One of my students taking a practical class.
What hopes do you have for the future for your organization?
My hope is that—and it is certain and it is bound to happen—that Westminster College London is going to be in every nook and corner of the world because of the visionary leader's constant search of new destination and partnerships with leading universities of the world for higher studies.
I'm sure Westminster College London is sooner going to become a full-fledged university in itself that would offer world class education with affordable fees with highly knowledgeable and quality educators.
Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?
It is very important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures because the world has become a global village and we get to see so many foreign tourists traveling to our country and enjoying our culture.
In the same way, when we go abroad as a tourist or for job purpose, we have to learn the culture well in advance so that you don't get any culture shock or something.
When we get in touch with people of other nationalities, we get to learn so much from them and in turn, we become a global educator or a global citizen. So it's very important that we go abroad.
During a promotional event.
Why do you think learning a new language is important?
Learning a new language is always an added advantage because you become a local person of that particular country or region. That would put you in a very commending position over others. So learning a language is not just important, but very important.
What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?
First of all, before going, analyze the pros and cons of that particular country. Once you have decided to go, accept the new culture wholeheartedly, learn some local words of that region, and try to find out if your country’s people are there in the nearby region. Get in touch with them, don't talk politics, be careful.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
No travel is meaningless, because we spend money, energy, and time for any travel—it is how we utilize the travel after planning. If we move away from what we actually planned and concentrate on something else, then it may sometimes become meaningless; however, if we stick to the original plan, I'm sure the travel will surely be meaningful.
What does ethical global engagement mean to you?
I believe that ethical global engagement is the need of the hour. When we engage international people, we should make them feel at home, and not like aliens. We should follow the ethics, we should not talk about the race, colour, caste, community, religious sentiments, personal life as well as politics with international people. That is ethics. Our work as educators is to educate them to be responsible future leaders of the world.
