Kyla Patterson is a DePaul \u201817 alumna who graduated with dual majors in Public Relations and Advertising and Writing, Rhetoric & Discourse. Last year Patterson became a Fulbright Scholarship recipient and began teaching English to students in the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, in September 2017. WRD caught up with Kyla in the new year to see how her experience as a full-time teacher abroad has been so far.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kyla\u2019s experience as a tutor in DePaul\u2019s University Center for Writing-based Learning and as an ESL instructor in Humboldt Park gave her the confidence to teach in a foreign country.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience has been equal parts amazing, enlightening, and frustrating,\u201d Kyla explains. \u201cTeaching secondary school students (aged 11-19) is a challenge\u2014especially teaching them a foreign language. But my students are amazing, bright, and dedicated to their studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I had an understanding of what it took to be an ESL teacher and to work with language on the level that I did at the Writing Center, my transition to teaching in the Czech Republic has been a lot easier than some expected it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patterson says her students are always eager to learn more about English and American culture, and they love having the chance to express themselves in English with a native speaker.<\/p>\n

Life Abroad<\/h2>\n

\u201cThere’s always frustration and confusion associated with being in a foreign country,\u201d Kyla says. \u201cThere’s a good amount of culture shock, but as I go into my sixth month here it doesn’t seem as jarring as before.\u201d<\/p>\n

A visit to Czechia in 2015 helped solidify Kyla\u2019s determination to go back. A Fulbright gave her the opportunity, and she doesn\u2019t regret choosing Czechia one bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful country with a complex culture and relationship with the West,\u201d she explains. \u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in learning more about education, culture, and language acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Patterson previously spoke to WRD before starting to teach abroad, her intent was to focus on researching literacy in Czechia. However, she has begun to explore other linguistic interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe longer I\u2019ve been here [in Czechia], the more I\u2019ve found myself gravitating towards understanding how language is used as a way of alienation and as a way of cultural preservation,\u201d Kyla says. \u201cSo my research has shifted and I\u2019ve started focusing on the political history of the Czech language. It\u2019s tough.  My grasp of Czech leaves a lot to be desired, but I\u2019m really enjoying it thus far.\u201d<\/p>\n

WRD Support<\/h2>\n

Patterson\u2019s love of language and rhetoric began with WRD 378: Teaching English as a Second Language in Chicago<\/em>, a class taught by her mentor, Professor Jason Schneider.<\/p>\n

\u201cI owe a lot to the WRD Department,\u201d Kyla says. \u201cThe faculty have been so supportive of me since I began my WRD major when I was 17, and they still continue to help me out well past graduation. It\u2019s nice to know that I can always reach out to faculty like Professor Schneider for support. The department has also been extremely helpful with my graduate school applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Czech Culture and Communication<\/h2>\n

Czech culture is fascinating to Kyla, and the family that has taken her in has helped make the transition to living in Czechia a lot easier than it could have been.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey make amazing Czech food and are always willing to explain Czech culture to me. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ve fully embraced it\u2014I\u2019m still very American\u2014but I\u2019ve come to appreciate it a lot more. I really enjoy how blunt the Czechs are when communicating; they tell you how it is. I absolutely love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

*NOTE: This post was written by WRD Student Assistant, Charlene Haparimwi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kyla Patterson is a DePaul \u201817 alumna who graduated with dual majors in Public Relations and Advertising and Writing, Rhetoric & Discourse. Last year Patterson became a Fulbright Scholarship recipient and began teaching English to students in the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, in September 2017. WRD caught up with Kyla in the new year to see how her experience as a full-time teacher abroad has been so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-student-alumni-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wrdblog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}