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In my opinion, the teacher’s character and attitude are fundamental to involve students and to make them like a language. As far as I am concerned, since middle school I have always had caring and passionate teachers who were always paying attention to the students individual needs, they allowed us to speak, they were always smiling, entertaining and above all they really loved teaching.Unfortunately, things changed at university where teachers had too many students, they relied only on books ,they were not able to manage the class effectively and sometimes they did not have a good relationship with the students. As consequence, students tended to consider English irrelevant, just as any other subject and they lost interest. A good teacher instead should be able to inspire students of all ages and during all the stages of learning so that as adults they can apply their skills in real life and maybe have good job opportunities too, because nowadays mastering a language is an added value that employers take into consideration. For this reason,the role of the teacher is becoming more and more vital, not only his /her personal qualities are important, but also his/her capability to follow the school rules to act as a controller, to be able to deal with parents and paperwork, to plan and be organized are aspects to take into consideration. Students get bored easily so a good teacher must be able to suggest different and various activities. A charismatic teacher in fact should suggest a variety of activities and find a good balance between joining them too or withdrawing. In the last case, she/he can take advantage of this to monitor and asses students performances, take notes, monitor and observe, however, he/she must not intervene or interfere constantly to correct them, otherweise they may lose confidence and have problems in overcoming their difficulties.Being an impartial assessor and a motivator are difficult roles to take ,since schools and society are more and more demanding and teachers themselves are usually tired and not motivated. For these reasons, I think that teachers should have the chance to confront with each other, have some psychological support when needed and not be constantly put under pressure when they face problems they are not responsible of. It is extremely important that teachers feels comfortable ,not only with their role ,but also with the students and the environment they are working in, they should feel that their efforts are appreciated, that they are not bad judges, but guides always willing to help and to support. Students should feel that they can trust and rely on them. Therefore, a great deal of sensitivity and encouragement are required. All in all, there should be a collaborative and relaxed atmosphere so that a lesson can become a moment of mutual knowledge and respect ,especially in a multicultural society where English is much more used as lingua franca. Nonetheless, students still often care more about notes and evaluation instead of productive feedback, so teachers should make them aware of what learning a new language means that’s to say practice as much as possible, not being afraid of mistakes, not think in or use the native language, being open-minded, be patient, to fuel motivation daily. To conclude, being a teacher is not an easy job since it requires a three hundred and sixty degrees preparation, physical and mental strength, responsibility and commitment, however, it can be fun and very rewarding to be a model, a good leader to follow.
