Erasmus Traineeship

I have been to Tallinn University twice. First time as an Erasmus student what I enjoyed a lot, so when I had the opportunity to come back on year later as a trainee I did not hesitate at all! I got a chance to take part in a large European project like “PUTSPACE: Public Transport as Public Space in European Cities” which combines many fields of science. I worked in an international team with amazing people who are excellent specialist in their fields. Mostly, I carried out my independent project (https://putspace.eu/elementor-814/) based on geographical studies and GIS analysis related to PUTSPACE. That traineeship gave me opportunity to develop skills which I got during my studies and use them in practice. Thanks to TLU I got access to the latest licensed GIS software and had the opportunity to learn about it and work on it. What's more, traineeship allowed me to gain new experiences and knowledge which I can use in my future work. I think that Tallinn University is a really good place full of very nice and helpful people around. I would definitely recommend anyone to work with TLU and spend some time in such a beautiful capital like Tallinn.

I am an Italian Master student at the University of Bologna and I had been a trainee at Tallinn University for three months. I was an Italian teaching assistant and I had the opportunity to work with an amazing  staff who helped me to develop my skills and monitored my activity giving me constant feedback to improve myself. Furthermore, I had the chance to experience Estonian education with highly skilled professors and to work with strongly motivated students. I recommend Estonia as a European destination with all its landscapes  and nature and especially the experience at Tallinn University.

If you’re looking for a traineeship in a stimulating and multicultural environment, the University of Tallinn is the right place. As a student of German Linguistics at the University of Bamberg in Bavaria, I had the chance to work as a German language assistant at the School of Humanities at the TLÜ and I spent three of the most enriching months in my life. I worked with a very professional team of professors and lecturers, who made me an active participant of the School: they let me teach in the different language courses (A2, B1, B2, C1), organize cultural events and involved me in the different meetings and activities of German Studies. Above all, they always gave me important feedback about my work, in order to let me improve in the profession that I hope will be my future occupation. If you want to put into practice what you learned as a German teacher as a foreign language, I strongly recommend a traineeship in Tallinn, where you have the chance to collect a professional and educational experience in one of the most interesting and fascinating capitals in the world.

When I got to know about Erasmus traineeship I was in Sweden and about to graduate, I really wanted to do traineeship in Estonia because I found it so cool. I started to work on it and eventually got accepted by Tallinn University School of Humanities. My supervisor allowed me to teach my favourite topic areas from Middle East and North Africa, it has been a great blessing for me to work on the topics that I always wanted to explore further. I think Erasmus Traineeship is a great opportunity for every student to actually work in a different country and learn, explore, enjoy and experience this amazing journey of traineeship: interaction with different people, get to know about different cultures and above all working under the umbrella of experienced professionals in the state of the art institute. It is just the best adventure in the form of post study work and all this has been part and parcel of my journey so far. I can simply say that I am blessed with all that. I am so happy to use this opportunity and I would really appreciate young graduates to think about it and experience it. It’s a learning process and nobody expects that you are perfect and that is your advantage. You can make mistakes and always ask for your supervisor to help and that is where you learn. As far as my experience with Tallinn University is concerned, here people actually want to help you, they want that you should learn and enjoy your journey of traineeship with passion and enjoyment. I teach here and I feel as if every lecture that I deliver adds to my experience, preparing lessons, understanding the requirement of students, facing question and answer sessions during lectures, all these activities are actually helping me develop my skill level to a good standard. I am really grateful to my friend who introduced me to Estonia, I am so happy to work with amazingly great people at Tallinn University who have been so welcoming and helpful in all possible ways and I am thankful to them for this opportunity.

There are several reasons why you should do an Erasmus traineeship. The European Union gives you the opportunity to spend some months abroad working and you get a monthly scholarship. I decided to use this opportunity to fly from Milan (Italy) to Tallinn to work in TLU as a lecturer. I stayed for three months, from March to May, which might be the best period you can choose to be in Estonia, since you will see nature, cities and people revive after winter. I was involved in teaching Italian language and Italian literature, and helping the professors. In particular, I helped them with preparing lessons, correcting homework and, the most interesting and challenging thing: teaching classes. Moreover, I was one of the tutors for the students. The Italian course was A2 level, so we dealt with all the basic elements of Italian language and we taught also a little bit of Italian culture. During the literature course, we followed the moon! We read some masterpieces of modern Italian literature that feature the moon. Finding people who want to learn the Italian language and culture in Estonia was really fascinating and this stimulated me so much in doing my work well. Furthermore, the traineeship increased my sense of responsibility, my creativity and my ability to work in a team. So, doing a traineeship is a great opportunity. Doing it at TLU is even better. I found it a really welcoming environment with wonderfully warm people. I am really grateful for my experience.

My traineeship at Tallinn University can be described as thoroughly positive! I had the chance to work with professors and lecturers and to see what happens in a real Italian language class when the language is taught outside Italy. This is exactly what I studied for! The patience, comprehension and the professionalism of the school made my work experience rich, full and fundamental for my personal and academic formation. I highly recommend the experience of working at Tallinn University as a Language Assistant, to understand the importance of teaching and cooperating with professors and lecturers, working together in planning of the classes and tests, preparing all the materials and living the academic life from another perspective!