My experience with English W/Tech has taught me a whole new perspective for on online teaching and the importance of language. I recommend these classes for students and teachers looking to gain English classroom practice that will prove helpful in the long term. Getting workshop feedback on my proposed lesson plans also taught me that this field has a lot for someone like me to learn. Thanks to the guidance and opportunity given by the administrators I have improved considerably for my new journey.
English W/Tech was a great way to get hands-on teaching experience and put my TEFL certification into practice. I enjoyed my time working with them and appreciated the valuable feedback that I received on my lessons. The feedback taught me how to make a great lesson that is fun for the kids as well. Working with kids is a fruitful experience and it feels good to know that I am making a difference in someone else’s life. Thank you!
"The organization is run smoothly and they take their job and role very seriously. All of the students were incredibly enthusiastic to learn and greatly enjoyed all of the topics I discussed. They seemed very grateful for the opportunity to learn English from a native English speaker and would often ask questions about American culture. Conversely, I was always fascinated to learn about Turkish culture and they were always very proud to share tidbits of their culture and history with me.”
“Working with English W/Tech, I was able to get my first experience teaching English as a foreign language. Because of English W/Tech, I feel much more comfortable and knowledgeable in teaching English, specifically online. My lesson planning, communication, and translation skills have all greatly improved from this experience.”
"It was an excellent way to gain experience with teaching, conducting a lesson entirely online. It was also quite insightful having the opportunity to observe other teachers' lessons and see different teaching styles. I owe a great thanks to English W/Tech for providing this opportunity to me to jumpstart my TEFL career and help me hone the skills I need to be an effective teacher."
"EWT lessons allowed me to both learn English and increase my general culture."
"Thanks to our teachers who encouraged active conversations and asking questions, EWT helped me a lot to keep my knowledge fresh and to improve my skills forward during a very tough time, back when I was preparing for the university exam. I will forever be grateful for discovering this platform. Thank you! "
"EnglishWTech teachers helped me greatly. I could be the luckiest person coming across to you in my life. I have been attending your classes for 2 years. Thanks to you, I received B2 in the IELTS exam."
“EWT classes really helped me to improve my English and boost my vocabulary with lots of speaking opportunities. The atmosphere was super relaxed and everyone was lovely, especially the teachers. We had sooo many topics about each genre and news for classes and that means we won't get bored with the same "classic topics". Moreover, the classes boosted my confidence of speaking with foreigners.”
“EWT really helped me socialize during and after the pandemic. I also improved my English (and my accent) so it was such a good program.”
“I really enjoyed the classes and practicing with the teachers, and students helped a lot for my English and my pronunciation. I learned new things about the world, thanks for everything.”
“I thank a lot to Zeycan YILDIRIM and the YILDIRIM Group as they enabled us to be able to participate in such a valuable class. Unfortunately, in the society that we live in, women need to learn self-defense. We now feel confident for knowing that we have escape points in case of danger and this self-confidence can prevent the other side from giving harm.”
“I thank Garip & Zeycan YILDIRIM Foundation for the meaningful Women’s Day gift on March 8th, bearing the slogan Strong Women = Strong Society. The course was very beneficial and fun, showing us that the main concept of defense is not strength but knowing the key and important points.”
“I found self-defense courses beneficial as they provided us with the most practical and effective techniques. The energy of the teachers was very high, they encouraged each of us to actively participate in training. Let’s learn, be ready, be a #strongwoman and #strongsociety. I hope none of us will be forced to use these techniques.”
“I enjoyed the self-defense course organized by Garip & Zeycan YILDIRIM Foundation under the leadership of Zeycan YILDIRIM and with the slogan #strongwomen #strongsociety. I thank a lot to our instructors and Foundation team for this class during which we rediscovered our strengths and benefit, physically and emotionally."
I am proud of myself for being accepted into this Erasmus Program. Through this, we could get to know different cultures and people. Particularly where we did our internship, we could learn about and experience how the logistics industry operates. I am really happy to seize this opportunity. Many thanks to all for their efforts.
I was accepted into the Erasmus Program and went to Belgium for the internship. The Program helped me learn about a different culture and connect with new people, improving my foreign language skills. Through this, I could practice what I have studied at school.
I could gain a wider perspective and meet people as Belgium has a different culture from ours. I clearly understood the key importance of speaking a foreign language. It was an amazing experience to see that people speaking different languages, believing in different religions, and coming from different races can live together in harmony.
As far as I observed, women are prioritized in their social life in Belgium. The country puts great importance on the equality of women and men and it is visible in their daily life. Heading to Belgium has gained me different perspectives, both in social and business terms.
I send my countless thanks to Garip & Zeycan YILDIRIM Foundation as they displayed great sympathy to teachers, developing open communication and guiding them to offer English-speaking classes during the 2022-2023 Academic Year.
I was fully satisfied with the English lessons through your Foundation’s Teacher Development Program. My English-speaking level has now upgraded to the intermediate level. Thank you very much for your tireless efforts.
Although many foundations work on education in Türkiye, they fail to conduct adequate studies to improve teacher competencies. I really appreciate your Foundation’s activities toward English education as it is essential for teachers. I am grateful to your devoted team and your Foundation for overcoming our inadequacies in learning a foreign language
I found my practicum location, English W Tech, through a list of recommendations from my TEFL advisor. English W Tech is a free ESL program supervised by the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey. Classes are held online on weekdays in the evenings to give students an opportunity to join sessions after their school hours. The mission of English W Tech revolves around English being seen as fun and useful, and teacher volunteers are given creative liberty to teach about whatever subjects they themselves find interesting. By having teachers deliver lessons about topics that they enjoy, it gives the students a look into the personalities and passions of their teachers.
My role with English W Tech was a combination of observation and student teaching. I can still remember a great deal of the lessons I observed without having to look at the spreadsheet where I was keeping track. One of my first lessons I attended discussed coffee from around the world, and the teacher who taught the class discussed different ways cultures take something as simple as coffee and create unique flavors such as adding lemonade or vanilla ice cream. I remember her asking the students their thoughts on the different recipes or if they had tried similar things before, and a big goal of that lesson and others, like it was to have a conversation with the students. Students weren’t expected to recite facts or get tested on other knowledge, rather, they were encouraged to participate and interact with the teacher.
When I became one of the teachers, I did my best to teach and provide a variety of subjects. Some of my first lessons went into topics like working at a summer camp, expressing yourself through art, or even how to become a professional clown. In the first few lessons, the students learned more about my interests and were able to ask questions that way while also telling stories about how they express themselves or how they related to the topics I taught. At the end of every lesson I would ask them what they were interested in and what they wanted to learn about, and that’s how I learned that the students wanted to work together on certain activities. It was them that I did lessons like “Game Shows in America” and “How To Spot A Liar”. Getting feedback from the students and allowing them to make decisions about what sort of lessons they wanted to have was one of my favorite parts about teaching through English W Tech. Some of the students who didn’t turn on the microphone as much at the beginning of my field experience participated so much more by the time it was my last week of teaching and it was really cool to see their growth.
I’m going to miss teaching for English W Tech, but one thing that does excite me is that I was invited to keep volunteering whenever I had the chance. That makes me feel like I’ve done a good job, and overall I feel so much more prepared to take what I’ve learned from TEFL into a classroom of my own. I don't know if I would change anything about the program, but I do know there were times where classes weren't advertised as often on social media and I didn't always see as many students on those weeks. Other than that I think it is a well-established program.
Finally, I would like to say my appreciation for my advisor, Figen. She was patient with me when I struggled to adjust to the time zones at first and always gave very helpful tips regarding how to make lessons more inclusive and exciting. I had also had an advisor named Gizem who is no longer within the program but she was also very encouraging when I was getting used to class formats and with coming up with ideas for lesson activities. As I said, overall this was a very well put together program, and it would not have been possible without these two people.
I am an ESL teacher from Colombia who moved to Türkiye about a year ago. I like traveling, history and music. I wanted to work at the GZYV on the EWT Program because I liked sharing my knowledge with others, and because I wanted to play an important role in society by helping people directly in their lives through my classes. I believe on this program students have the chance to be part of the globalization process as English is a bridge that shortens this process. I was looking for a part time teaching position when I came across the EWT program and applied to teach. The foundation gave me some training sessions in order to adapt my teaching style to the EWT program. Additionally, I was under supervision and received constant feedback from Figen that allowed me to improve my classes and teaching skills which I am grateful for. I saw that Turkish students are motivated and dreamers. They aim high and will achieve their goals successfully given that they continue putting their effort on what they do. The EWT program is an excellent platform aimed at reducing the educational gap between social classes in Türkiye. Overall, I believe this project is beautiful and will definitely permanently and positively will impact these kids' lives. The students have the opportunity to see how learning a language goes beyond following grammar patterns. They learn how English is fun and how it is a tool to know more about the world. In my case, I have improved my remote teaching skills, my creativity has improved, and I have learned a lot about Turkish culture from my students. I am happy to have been part of this project.
The past several months of working for English W/tech have been exciting, rewarding, and eye-opening. I was certainly nervous to teach English for the first time but the administrators at English W/tech helped me feel prepared and ready to teach with confidence and experience. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity they gave me to get my start in English teaching. The service that they provide for children across Turkey is valuable beyond compare and I am lucky to have been a part of such a noble organization. I will always be grateful to English W/tech and will reflect on my time with them fondly. I recommend this organization to anyone looking to get their start in teaching English or for teachers wanting to dedicate their spare time to English teaching. Thank you English W/tech.
Working for English W/Tech has been very beneficial. English W/Tech has a great mission statement of providing additional and free English lessons for students in Turkey. In which, they do an exceptional job of following through. Working with the employees, Figen and Gizem, was very enjoyable. They were supportive in helping create English lessons and completing practicum hours. Figen and Gizem were open and communicative when questions and concerns were brought up. I highly recommend working with English w/Tech, there are lots of skills and opportunities are provided!
"English W/Tech is an amazing program and I am so thankful for my time working with them. They are helpful in every way and guided me professionally. The best way to learn a new language is to hear how that language is used every day and this is exactly what English W/Tech provides. Students are able to choose from a large variety of topics that interest them and learn from native English speakers, making learning enjoyable and therefore more successful. If you are wanting to learn or teach English, English W/Tech is the best choice!". Thank You!
"Completing my TEFL practicum hours with English W/ Tech was an engaging and edifying experience. Observing and giving lessons was very enjoyable due to the eager students and effective teachers. It's so fun to create lessons and then have lively discussions with the students. Volunteering your time at English W/ Tech will be rewarding and I would recommend it to anyone."
“I approached English W/Tech to begin gaining the experience I needed to become a ESL/EFL teacher as a requirement of my own TEFL course. The English W/ Tech program helped me put the skills I had been reading about into practice. Observing and teaching the students here has been a great experience and truly helped me learn how to be more comfortable in a teaching role. English W/ Tech is a great place to start gaining confidence and improve yourself as a teacher. I would fully recommend any new teachers to this program.''
“I enjoyed having the opportunity to complete my practicum hours through English w/ Tech. Their mission and purpose was a large reason I wanted to complete my hours through them. Students were engaged and appreciative of the opportunity to learn through zoom. It was always nice to have students enjoy the topics chosen and also provide interests they have.”
Again, thank you so much for this opportunity and I will reach out in the future for potential teaching opportunities.
"I am very pleased to have found this opportunity through English W/Tech for completing my practicum hours. What this organization stands for and provides to students in need makes the experience all the more meaningful. The students were awesome and their attitudes and insights during lessons made for a fulfilling experience for all involved. This was an excellent way to gain experience with teaching, particularly with using Zoom and other features to conduct a lesson entirely online. It was also quite insightful having the opportunity to observe other teachers' lessons and see different teaching styles. I owe a great thanks to English W/Tech for providing this opportunity to me to jumpstart my TEFL career and help me hone the skills I need to be an effective teacher."
“When I completed my TEFL course with my academy I needed to decide which organization I would do my practical hours with. When I was searching for some recommended places I came across Schedule W/Tech. I received a very quick response from Figen after I emailed them. Figen asked to schedule a Zoom meeting with me to discuss what kind of classes they give and also what I plan to do after. Figen explained everything about their organization very professionally and in detail. I was actually very surprised that such an organization exists so it made me feel excited to be working with them. I am very impressed with their professionalism and the service they are able to provide to Turkish students who are in need of English practice.
I always had to prepare my class topics and lesson plans a week before to make sure everything was ready in time. I always received feedback for my lesson plans before I would present them to make sure I could deliver the class best suited to the level of the class. I was especially unsure at the beginning about which vocabulary is suitable for which class level, so Figen and her team made sure to correct my errors regarding this. Figen even scheduled extra zoom calls with me to make sure I understood in which format to make the presentation. I admire that and I think Figen represents the company very well, especially when it comes to being punctual, thorough and professional. One word that comes to mind when I think of Figen and her team is “quintessential”. I received very good guidance from Figen and her team and I appreciated their swift responses.
Thank you for this wonderful opportunity. I would recommend anyone doing their TEFL course to do their practical hours with English w/tech. The Turkish students were also a joy to work with. You also get to receive some moral support from other TEFL students who need to observe your classes at times. I want to thank English w/tech for this opportunity and also for giving me guidance and experience to become a better English teacher.”