Trainers
Emmie-clare Leckie
I caught the travel-teach bug as a 20-year old on my first independent overseas trip. Of course I had a great time but ultimately I felt frustrated. I was so eager to learn more about the people and cultures I visited but as a backpacker my opportunities to experience worlds beyond the one I knew were limited. I returned to Australia with the resolve to do it differently next time!
Upon completing my undergraduate degree, I got myself qualified to teach English as a Foreign Language and made enquiries to Australian Volunteers International. Five months later I was spending my first night in Ho Chi Minh City in the room of a run-down mini-hotel madly trying to convince myself that the butterflies I felt were all excitement and not fear. The charade was broken when the controls for the overhead fan spat electrical sparks. In retreat under the mosquito net I lay sleeplessly listening to the unfamiliar night sounds of a city that never shuts down, wondering what on earth I was doing there!
Of course I now see that night as the beginning of a life-forming experience and a lifelong bond to a place and a culture beyond anything I had ever known.
Over a period of 10 years in Vietnam, I enjoyed teaching in lots of different environments. I taught in a secondary school where I was the first foreign teacher employed since before 1975. During that time I also taught in a school for underprivileged primary school aged children, many of whom were looking to improve their English language skills to better sell post-cards, t-shirts and maps on the burgeoning tourist track. I returned to Australia to complete my Bachelor of Teaching. I also married my boyfriend and together, keen for further adventures, we went back to Vietnam. I taught at the College of Education – Ho Chi Minh City University where I undertook research into teaching Intercultural Communication. Beyond this, I qualified as an Examiner for IELTS (International English Language Testing System) which allowed me to indulge my interest in assessment. Around the same time a chance meeting in a back-packer restaurant eventually lead into full-time employment in an international company as their Training & Development Manager. I was based in HCMC, but also had many experiences travelling to teach in Hanoi and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Finally, in my last year or so in Vietnam, I worked in a Human Resource Consultancy where I got to use my teaching skills and cultural familiarity to explore exciting new areas of work.
For now (but not for good… as I always like to add), my husband and I are back in Melbourne. I am happily ensconced in raising our two beautiful, cheeky children and find further fulfilment through continuing on as an IELTS examiner and in regularly slipping into the world at Teach International. Here I have the great pleasure of working with people who love teaching as much as I do and who share the same enthusiasm for living in different cultures. The opportunities that such an experience offers are immense… and preparing people to embark upon their own adventures is extremely rewarding and a tremendous joy!
