Teaching and Learning in Ecuador

For two weeks in May I traveled to Ecuador with ten other Ohio State students and two instructors. We toured the cities of Quito and Cuenca, did service at a women’s shelter, and taught English lessons at a school in a rural area in the mountains.

Throughout this experience, my attitude towards going abroad changed immensely. I started the trip being very nervous about travelling abroad, particularly about staying with a host family and teaching lessons in a classroom in another country. I had only taken two years of Spanish in high school, and even though I used the Duolingo app to practice religiously, I never really felt confident about my language skills before the trip. I was expecting this trip to be the most challenging thing I’d ever do in my life. Yet, by the end of the trip, I was already thinking of my where I’d travel to next, and how much I’d like to stay with a host family again.

This experience also developed my sense of efficacy as a teacher. I am a TESOL major and have done a few field experiences in Columbus, but teaching in another country with a wholly different education system helped me gain confidence in myself and understand how the institution of public education is similar but different around the world.

The most transformative experience was my interactions with the host family, and other local people. More than anything else, I learned that the world is actually a very small place. On our first night with the host family, we found out that one of our host mother’s daughters was married to an American and lived in Pennsylvania, the same state my roommate on the trip was from. Next, when we went hiking in Cajas National Park, our tour guide mentioned that he had used to live on Long Island, New York, which is where I am from. Later on, when we went to the school, our interpreter heard me talking, noted I had a New York accent, and told me had a cousin who lives on Long Island. Finally, on Mothers’ Day, our host family invited a retired American expat who had once lived with them, and sure enough, she was from New York, and had even once lived in the next town over from where my Mom currently lives!

My host family truly transformed my attitude towards going abroad, too. They were incredibly friendly and helpful. Our host mother cooked for us every night and even paid for the cab to take us to the airport when we left. Our host sister knew English, but would talk to me in Spanish because she knew I was really trying to learn, and helped me learn new words. All the nervousness I had felt about staying with a host family was completely eradicated. I was very sad to say good-bye, and I still keep in touch with my host sister on social media.

My time at the school also helped me see how similar and different another side of the world could be. For instance, while the school building itself was open-air and somewhat rustic, the classrooms were equipped with projector boards and all the children had textbooks that were approved by the government (the logo for the Ministry of Education was even in the exact same corner of the cover where state education department logos are on American school textbooks), and the teacher had her own version. The teacher seemed a bit strict. We were in a fifth-grade classroom, but the students were mostly 8 or 9 years old, since there is no Preschool or Kindergarten in Ecuador and students start first grade at age 4. Despite the many cultural differences, the students responded to our lesson very well, and I felt a sense of pride in our work.

All in all, I felt that this experience was the beginning of the rest of my life, since it was my first time teaching English to non-native speakers, which is what I will be doing as a career. I feel that my time with the host family and sharing so many connections has an immeasurable value, in it itself and in that it gave me more confidence, not just in traveling, but in developing friendships in general. My time abroad in Ecuador made me a better teacher and a more open-minded person.