(upbeat electronic music)
- My name is Mary-Kate Murphy.
I am an English teacher living in Prague
in the Czech Republic
and I'm here today to show you a day in my life.
So to start, I'll tell you a little bit
about myself first.
I am 25 years old.
I'm from Long Island, New York,
and I have been living and working here for
almost two years.
I arrived in October of 2019
to take the in-person TEFL course here in Prague
with one of ITA's partner schools.
People ask me all the time,
why I moved to the Czech Republic of all places
and I will get into that soon.
First, I want to talk about why I chose TEFL,
and then I will talk about why I chose the Czech Republic.
For my research I found that one of the easiest ways
for Americans to move and live abroad
is to get certified to teach English.
I chose ITA because they are a huge,
really reputable company and I felt really safe and secure
in my decision to move forward with ITA.
So, I chose the Czech Republic because it was a new place
I hadn't been before.
It's centrally located in Europe.
The cost of living is pretty affordable
and it's pretty easy for Americans to obtain a Visa here.
I do think that central Europe is a really good option
for people that are looking to teach English
and have a successful career
because enough people speak English
in this part of the world
that you will never be uncomfortable,
you'll never be lost,
but also the need for English teachers is still much higher
than in other parts of Europe.
I chose to receive my TEFL certification through
one of ITA's partner schools here in Prague.
I knew right away that I wanted to do the in-person course
because I knew it would give me more opportunities
to make friends and connections and network.
It is still very possible to do all those things
without taking an in-person course,
if that's what works best for you.
However, I can't recommend the in-person course enough.
I had so much fun doing it.
I met all my best friends there
and it was just the greatest experience.
Start getting ready for work
so I will talk a little bit about my job before I do that.
I got hired at my current job
a week before I even graduated from my TEFL program.
I found the job through my former flatmate.
I was moving into this flat and she had received an email
from the director of this school who was saying that they
urgently needed a new English teacher at their school.
She said, I'm not interested at the moment,
but I know someone who might be, gave her my email.
I sent the director my CV.
I went in for a meeting and she hired me on the spot.
A private international school.
So all of my children speak different languages.
They all have different English speaking levels
and I do teach at what is called a British preschool.
It is loosely based on the British framework.
The curriculum is based on an English curriculum
and we do teach British English.
So the vocabulary and grammar is
a little bit different than what I'm used to
but I'm having a lot of fun doing it.
I work about 40 hours a week,
nine to five Monday through Friday,
sometimes more if I need to cover for someone for something.
So, I will get more into perks
and more details about my job later.
Right now, I need to throw on my uniform,
which my job requires and I need to take my...
Before I head out,
I will tell you a little bit about where I live and my flat.
I've been living in the same flat
the entire time I have lived in Prague.
I found this flat on Facebook in a flat share group,
which is how most of my friends and colleagues all found
their current living situation.
I live in Prague 1, which is the city center.
It is more expensive than living in other areas of Prague,
but the location for me is unbeatable
and I really enjoy living here.
My commute to work is less than five minutes,
I actually live within walking distance of my job
and it's super convenient for me,
everything I need is right around me.
And I'll give you guys a quick view of my room.
I can show you the rest of my flat later
when my flatmates are awake and I won't be disturbing.
So here is my bedroom.
It is pretty common in Prague to have these
super, super high ceilings and really big windows.
Over here I have a king size bed, which is amazing
and I love.
Over here I have like a sectional couch.
I have a fantastic view out my window.
I have a desk, wardrobe, dresser,
all of this furniture came with the flat,
I did not buy anything.
Oh, there goes the tram, it's a little bit loud,
which was super convenient.
I liked the idea of just packing my clothes
and things into suitcases
and being able to leave at any time.
It's pretty common to find furnished flats, in Prague.
Masks are no longer required outside.
They are required in all indoor spaces, on public transit.
I don't have to wear one in school
because I am a preschool teacher.
So, it's really nice to be starting to return to sort of.
How do you feel about having an American English teacher?
(kids screaming)
Good?
Good? Okay. That's so nice.
Thank you.
I just got done teaching my lesson,
the children are playing now
because I work for an international school,
most of these children already speak English pretty well.
So our curriculum is actually more focused on
reading and phonics.
Today we practice digraphs.
Quick minute to myself so I'll just briefly talk about
the Visa situation here in the Czech Republic,
I will add more details later on
but basically you come and Americans can apply for the Visa
while they are already here.
You get a long-term Visa,
which then allows you to get a freelance trade license,
which is what you need to work here as a teacher.
ITA's partner school connected me to
a fantastic Visa agency
who walked me through the entire process.
There is a lot of paperwork to submit,
a lot of translation that needs to be done.
I would not recommend attempting the process on your own.
It is absolutely worth the money
to go through a Visa agency
and there are tons of them here in Prague.
I think the answer to this question is very, very soon.
The Czech Republic just opened to American tourists
for the first time since March of 2020,
I do have a bachelors degree,
I think it is possible to find some jobs here without one
however, most people here do have one
so it's a little bit competitive in that aspect.
You definitely don't need to at all,
I came here speaking absolutely nothing.
I'm able to understand a lot now
and speak just a little bit, but you should definitely try.
I'm finishing up my work day now.
I have about an hour and a half before I go home.
If you stay tuned,
I'll give you a tour of the rest of my flat,
I'll take you around Prague
and I'll even introduce you to some of my ex-pat friends.
Before I do that,
I wanna talk a little bit about my favorite things
about working at my current job
and working in Europe in general.
And that is mostly the work-life balance.
I find that people in Europe place a much higher emphasis
on living life instead of working insane hours.
I get paid vacation here at my job,
I get optional work in the summer and in general,
my management is extremely supportive and helpful,
especially during this difficult time.
So I'm finally home after a long day at work,
as promised, I'm gonna show you the rest of my flat.
It is pretty small, but I'm really happy with it
and it works for me and my flatmates.
So, you walk in...
Here is a shared bathroom.
There is a standup shower,
which I really love because that's not always common here.
Over here we have two bedrooms.
If you come this way,
there's another bed in there that has its own bathroom.
It's a small kitchen in here that we all share.
And then, like I said this morning, this is my bedroom.
There's not any really shared space,
but I don't really mind because I love...
I'm getting ready to head out.
The best part about my flat is that I live
very close to Old Town Square
and I also live right near
where the in-person TEFL course is held.
So we can make a quick stop by there.
And then I'll show you some of my favorite sites in Prague.
Here we have the perfect view of the Prague Castle,
I'll show you what life looks like a little bit here.
It's so nice to see people out again
after almost six months of lockdown,
I'm about to hop on the Metro
to go meet my friends for a beer.
Cheers! These are my friends.
We all met during the in-person course in October of 2019,
still going strong after almost two years, love that.
This is Lily. She is also an ex-pat,
she flew all the way from Des Moines, Iowa.
If you have questions about bringing a pet here to Prague,
you can send a message to her mom on Instagram.
All right everyone, I am back home
and that is all I have for today.
I had a lot of fun doing this,
and I hope this story was helpful or fun to watch.
If you have any more questions about life in Prague
or the entire process,
please feel free to message me on my personal account.
Or you can go there to watch more of
a day-to-day life in Prague.
I had a lot of fun doing this,
and I hope that I'll see you in Prague soon.
Bye.
(upbeat electronic music)