The people you meet...

The below was written on Thursday January 12th but I didn't have time to finish and post it until now :-)

I'm feeling quite bright at happy today. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and I'm relaxing in a classroom on the eighth floor that has a view over the city and to the hills of Austria. The golden spire of St Martin's cathedral is shining, Bratislava castle is capping the hill it stands upon with its bright, white walls and the forest in the distance on Kamzik is beckoning me. How I do love the sun in January.



It's times like these that I'm compelled to reflect upon the perks and joys of my new profession. While EFL teaching isn't likely to leave you rolling in money by any stretch of the imagination, the experiences of new places and people that you get are quite wonderful. I write this having recently finished testing and speaking to a new student. She was interesting, friendly and spoke good English. As part of her exam, she quizzed me on my opinions about the Eurozone, British culture, British food and then we discussed different experiences in life.

The range of people that I teach and have regular contact with is quite extensive and surprises me at times. From the top of my head I can think of the following jobs my students have: a petroleum company manager, an architect, the head of some radio and TV stations, technical IT specialists, fibre-optic cable designers, students, a bank employee, a teacher specialising in Autism and special needs children, and many more.

Inevitably, when talking to one another we use our own lives as source material for discussion. I've been exposed to so many different stories and backgrounds. Of particular interest to me are the tales from people who lived a portion, or a lot, of their lives under the Communist regime. These stories, and those of the transition out of Communism in 1989, are a fascinating glimpse into what was such an abstract piece of history to me. Several of my students were at university during those years and they speak fondly of it in a number of ways, though they admit that the country is better off now. I get challenged daily by different viewpoints and cultural backgrounds. I bring out discussion questions for my higher-level students and they often force me to defend my own position that comes from a different background and life experience.

It makes me very glad to have taken the step forward in life and to find something that really works for me. I love seeing new countries, experiencing new cultures and meeting people whose life stories enrich my knowledge of the world.

There is the story of this teacher and just a few of the people I get to meet.

All the best,

Pete

Such humility from those learning English.

While there are no sharks in Bratislava, I have noticed a great deal of humility from my students as well as other Slovaks who are learning English. Indeed, it is something that I first came across in Australia while I was backpacking around the world at ages nineteen and twenty. I have been apologised to numerous times by those who do not have English as a first language for their poor English, which is usually anything but poor, as they communicate with me.

Now perhaps this is not unreasonable to expect in Australia, but I have received the same treatment at least a dozen times in the few weeks I've been in Slovakia. The language here is Slovak, not English and I feel constantly pre-empted as I am the one who should be apologising for my extremely limited command of their language.

There is no denying that English is an extremely important language for global trade, diplomacy, communication, improving work prospects, travel and the online world. What is so interesting is how humble learners of English tend to be (in my experience) when conversing with a native speaker and how much humility and respect it instills in me.

I suppose it is because, to them, I have a native command of the language that so many people want to learn. It's quite amazing to realise how many advantages we have in the world that, certainly I, take for granted.

So to those who are learning English and have shown such humility and have been so nice to me I just want to say.....