Teach English in Mihe Zhen - Weifang Shi

What is it like to teach beginners of the English language? When I was 20 years old, I left my native United States with a wish to travel around the world. As a relatively poor boy of working class means, I bought myself a one way ticket to Amsterdam, as that was the cheapest ticket I could find at the time. I arrived with only ten dollars, no contacts, and very little idea of the culture. I also had not learned the Japanese I had studied in school, so learning new languages was going to be difficult for me. Amsterdam was expensive, so I hitchhiked blindly around, until I arrived in Prague, Czech Republic. This was shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, so very few people could actually speak English. The older generation spoke German, while the younger kids reluctantly spoke Russian. This would be my first experience teaching students the basics of the English language. At first, of course, it was down to simple vocabulary. I would hold up a bottle of cola, for example, and enunciate the word BOTTLE. The same would go for GLASS, LIGHTER, etc. As my friends (we were teaching each other for free) began to accumulate enough vocabulary, they were eager to learn how to conjugate a verb. The more they learned, the more excited they became, and before we knew it, they were borrowing teenager-level books from the library, watching English television programs and a few even began working in an Irish bar. After four years, I moved to East Berlin, where I started the process over again. This time, however, I had learned a few tricks from past experiences. Although still unregistered and unlicensed to teach, I had a better idea of how to go about teaching these young adults and grown adults. I would generally start with each student one-on-one, coaching them in simple vocabulary and grammar until I felt they were ready to take the next step, which was my unofficial English class. We would generally meet in a bar or cafe, in groups of 4-6. They were only permitted to speak in German when the waiter came to the table to take an order. We would begin the course talking about the past few days. (We would meet twice a week.) I would then pull random objects out of my bag and ask them for a description. After everyone had finished talking about their experiences of the preceding days, and our little game had finished, we would move onto more formative tasks, such as describing the customers who would walk in, or the cars that would drive by outside the window. Then they would take their notebooks out of their bags and we would work on grammar, spelling and punctuation. Again, this would generally be themed on what was happening around us spontaneously. (A sports game playing on the television, a popular song playing on the radio, what the bartender was wearing, a description of the daily lunch special, etc.) Afterwards, each student would have to stand and recite what they had written, while the others in the group were free to remark on any mispronunciations. Afterwards, each student would write a theme on the top of a blank piece of paper and pass it to their neighbor. On the following meeting each student was required to write 4 paragraphs pertaining to the theme written above. Since living in Berlin, I have travelled all over the world many times, but have never thought to get an accredited permit to teach my language professionally. It was only after giving it some serious consideration over the last few years that I decided to take the plunge. I am certainly glad that I did, as it gave me new insight, new perspectives and a fresher outlook on orchestrating an entire curriculum. Also helpful were the tips about working in front of a legitimate classroom with 20+ students, something I have never done in the past. The use of psychology and body language, eye contact and projection of voice, grouping weaker students with the stronger ones, and myriad other helpful tips are invaluable for working in front of a large group in an organized setting. Teaching beginners a new language is a rewarding and refreshing experience, and is something that I will always do irrelevant of my teaching status, but I am eternally thankful that I decided to take the opportunity to go through this course. Ultimately, I will manage to help more students in less time, and watch them progress and become ever more confident. While in the past I would teach for free as a language exchange, (I would learn their language from them on alternate days with a small group of my English speaking friends,) now I can do it on a more professional level. With the money I make, I can take classes in Vietnamese, the language of the land I now live in. To summarize, teaching beginners a new language is an incredibly rewarding job. It is a great feeling to be giving students a valuable tool that they can take with them and apply in any way that might help them advance in their careers, personal lives, or even just to be able to read classic novels or watch movies in the native tongue. After 25 years of helping people learn my language, I still stay in touch with a good number of them. Some have moved to English speaking countries. Some have married a spouse who is a native English speaker. Some work in a field where it is imperative to understand English. The rest can still at the very least correspond with me a few times a year.