После практики я понял, что хочу работать учителем.

After the practical training, I understood that I want to work as a teacher.

Breakdown of После практики я понял, что хочу работать учителем.

• я: I
• учитель: the teacher
• хотеть: to want
• что: that

Questions & Answers about После практики я понял, что хочу работать учителем.

Why is it после практики and not после практика?

Because после requires the genitive case.

• Dictionary form: практика
• Genitive singular: практики

So:

• после практики = after the practice / after the internship / after practical training

This is a very common pattern in Russian:

• после урока = after the lesson
• после работы = after work
• после университета = after university

So the form практики is there because of the preposition после.

What does практика mean here?

In this sentence, практика usually means something like:

• teaching practice
• practical training
• an internship
• a practicum

The exact translation depends on context. For example, if the speaker is studying education, после практики could mean after my teaching placement or after my student teaching.

So although практика can sometimes look like English practice, here it often means a period of real-world training, not just repeated exercise.

Why is it понял? What does that form mean?