“The most affected state in Europe.”
“State of emergency declared.”
“Things will get worse.”
What are all these headlines talking about?
The Czech Republic.
Which, coincidentally, happens to be my latest travel destination.
Am I fearless?
Yes.
Am I foolish?
Perhaps.
You can decide.
Either way…
Bon voyage!
(Don’t bother looking that up in your English dictionary.)
A Brave Student
As I pack my bags and count the days till my departure, I think about how nice it will be to return to the city I called “home” for more than a decade, to return to my friends, and to return to teaching.
And I recall some of the students I was fortunate to be able to help.
While I may be fearless, my students are often not.
Many tell me they’re afraid to speak.
But the ones who improve are all brave.
And that’s the story of my student, Marie.
I first met Marie in Cafe Grand Orient, in the center of Prague.
Somehow she had found my website and later wrote me an email asking if we could meet.
I didn’t notice it at the time, but later she told me she was very, very nervous.
(Isn’t it interesting how sometimes people don’t notice when you’re nervous?)
If I remember correctly, this was her first conversation with a native speaker.
I asked her the usual questions — Why do you want to improve? What do you want to focus on? How much free time do you have?
I told her I only work with good students, i.e. students who take my advice. She said she would.
I told her my price. She agreed.
And then we got started!
Flash forward a few years, and one afternoon I opened my inbox to see that an email from her was waiting for me.
She had just returned from her first trip to the U.S.
I saw pictures of her with her children in Las Vegas, in Yosemite national park, in San Francisco…
But this time I think I could see how she was feeling.
I could see she was no longer feeling fear.