Takuya Ogino

TESL graduate in 2018

Current job: English teacher (full-time) at Toronto private language school

One of the most important aspects that drew me to the Humber TESL program was the combination of authentic learning in the classroom of teaching methodologies, approaches, and techniques and the hands-on guidance of the experienced faculty for the practical and effective application of the knowledge into the real-classroom world. The opportunity that I was seeking for was the environment to help me apply the teaching knowledge I learned academically. I really love the great diversity of the nationalities in our classroom. The students were not only from Canada but others were from India, Vietnam, China, Colombia, Pakistan, Russia, Iran and Turkey. This exposed me to an extremely multicultural classroom. The diverse backgrounds of our classmates allowed for discussions comparing the differences of English education, language and cultures between each of the countries, which led to a deeper understanding of best practices for teaching in a culturally diverse classroom.

I took advantage of many opportunities provided by Humber while I was a student, dedicating myself to absorb as much knowledge from the program as possible. 

This included observation of LINC and Humber EAP classes, classroom micro-teaching, and teaching experiences at LINC. This helped me grow my teaching style as well as helped me confirm that teaching English is my true passion and brings me great joy.

Joining the TESL program is one of the best and the most life-changing decisions I have ever made. The Humber TESL program will not only develop you as an ESL teacher on how you teach, but also unlock your potential through the different types of activities with experienced professors who provide role-models for teaching. I am glad I chose this path. The practicum teaching experiences at LINC were the greatest unique opportunity for us to continuously experiment and improve the lesson plans we have built based on the teaching approaches, techniques and methods we learned in the classroom. While one of our professors closely supported and advised how we progress, teaching in such an authentic context convinced me how valuable the expertise we learned in the courses was in teaching. 

The experience has opened doors to my career path in Canada. I learned during job interviews how widely respected the Humber TESL program is, and studying there gave me an edge during my job search. Another graduate from my graduating class works with me at the school where I work as a full-time teacher. This program helps you become a highly successful ESL teacher!

I’ve developed both as a continuous learner of English and as an educator who can instill the love of learning in students. While the Humber TESL program enriched my knowledge of theoretical and methodological teaching with a variety of the techniques and approaches in the ESL classroom, I have come to ask myself every time I prepare for lessons: what would I expect and desire to learn if I were one of the students of my class? Through the education and experiences at Humber, I have learned how to balance what is necessary and effective for the learning of my students and what the students are satisfied with. I consistently achieve high evaluation ratings by my students over the past 8 months. This growth of myself as an ESL teacher has been accelerated more because of the experience at Humber TESL program!