On Being an ESL Teacher: Issue One
by Every learner struggles his / her way to attaining goals set. While others are won faster, some take a lifetime to master. Here’s one instance.
“I’ve been dying to tell you more. I just can’t find the right words to say. Not that I am dumb or something. I am simply not fluent in the language yet. My vocabulary is poor and my accent is not as smooth as that of a native speaker. Grammarwise is not an issue. I understood the question perfectly but I have difficulty elaborating my answer.”
Sounds familiar? If you are an ESL teacher, I am sure your answer is YES! This was quoted from one of my students who sighed after being asked to relate a particular experience while in a conversation class.
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Being a teacher to students whose mother tongue is not English can be challenging. It’s not just about the current level that needs to be improved. The attitude is a far more serious problem. Neither am I saying that I am a native speaker myself because I am a Filipino, English teacher. By native speaker in this context, it means that the first language is English: American or British. So, in one way or another, I share the hardship they undergo.
The most common question they raise is how to speed up their learning, how they can achieve fluency (if possible), in a month. Experience tells that there is definitely no short-cut way. It is a process that has to be gotten along. Conversely, it varies though according to the learner’s goal and the intrinsic motivation it goes with especially in the case of adult learners. However, being close-minded is a big hindrance to one’s progress.
Moreover, in any endeavor one confronts with, whether it’s learning a new language or cross stitching, patience is the key to mastery plus loving it, eventually.
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