I once had a student who was very afraid to speak.
Every time she said “Hello” her heart would beat faster.
I soon discovered the cause of her fear.
Speaking English reminded her of English class in school.
And it wasn’t a good memory.
Her English teacher often corrected her mistakes in front of her classmates.
Her classmates often laughed.
She felt embarrassment and shame.
Now, twenty years later, she still felt those same bad feelings every time she spoke.
She asked me, “Can you teach me grammar? I need to feel more confident when I speak.”
I didn’t answer her.
Instead, I asked her another question, “How is your Spanish?”
You see, she was from Romania, but currently living in Spain.
“It’s fine,” she said. “No problems.”
“Better than your English?” I asked
“Oh yes, much better”
“Did you study Spanish in school?”
“Oh, no. I learned it later.”
“How?”
“Just from life… from my friends… from TV… from reading.”
“And do you make mistakes in Spanish?” I asked.
“I guess. I don’t know.”
“So you learned English in school, and speaking English is a problem. But you didn’t learn Spanish in school, and speaking Spanish is not a problem…”
She started to understand.
A Teacher In Your Head
I like teachers.
Hey! I’m a teacher!
But some teachers, well, they should be captured and sent to live on a small island in the Black Sea.
They crawl inside your head when you’re a child.
The stay there for years correcting every single mistake and making you feel lower than dirt.
And they don’t even pay rent!
I say, it’s time to kick them out!
It’s time to learn English and have fun.
It’s time to speak English and have fun.
interesting…
Nice, but not easy
Who should I speak English to?
I don’t have anyone near me who speaks English.
Let me talk to myself ?
That’s a challenge. But now with the internet, it’s a lot easier. You can join groups, clubs, or hire a patient native speaker to talk to you. My site for that is: https://teacher-creature.com/prague/teachers/offers-online-lesson
Dear Vitamin V,
Thank you very much for your favorite week of the year. It’s perfect time to reflect. And that’s exactly what I’ll be doing this week. I hope…
Cheers!
Flora
Happy and productive reflecting!