Ingrid Smith
Teaching Second Language Certificate specializing in International and Heritage Languages
Accountant. Nurse. Mother. Language teacher and tutor. Over the past three decades, Ingrid Smith—a recent graduate of the Teaching Second Languages (TSL) Certificate specializing in International Heritage Languages—has been all of these.
Before emigrating from Germany, Ingrid was an accountant. Once she settled in Canada, she went back to school to become a nurse. Years later, married and raising three children, she reinvented herself again, becoming a teacher of German. Once again, she went back to school; this time to University of Calgary Continuing Education.
Ingrid's teaching career began somewhat unexpectedly more than a decade ago when she was approached by Calgary's German-Canadian club to take a position teaching German to children. It was a job she learned to love, despite having never had any teacher's training.
In 2004, after teaching for several years, Ingrid discovered a certificate program offered through U of C Continuing Education—The Teaching Second Languages Certificate. The program offered an International and Heritage Languages specialization for people just like her—people teaching their first language to students whose first language was English. A few years later, when a second level was introduced, she chose to go back for more in-depth learning.
"The program was wonderful," says Ingrid. "The courses were very helpful, providing guidance on learning styles and how to adapt to different ages of students. The most vibrant class was on culture and language teaching. It helped me understand how to teach culture to my students."
Ingrid's teaching career has evolved. Today, she teaches German two afternoons a week to classes of three- and four-year-olds in a private preschool in Calgary and tutors older children who attend the public school system.
She has posted her certificate for her students' parents to see. "They take me more seriously than before," She says. "The University is an organization they highly regard, so they have respect for the certificate. Now they listen carefully to what I say."
When I was taking my courses, the TSL certificate program was mostly taught in the classroom, but I did have to take one course online.
"Learning online was a challenge at first," says Ingrid. "I had to learn how to use Blackboard and how to use the internet to interact with other students.
"But it turned out to be a good experience... and I never had to worry about parking!"
"Taking the program turned out to be a really good thing for me."