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Most obviously, I have learned the actual grammar and rules behind the various structures I have been using my whole life without a second thought. Even in english classes throughout all levels of school they never went in depth into tenses (other than just basic past, present, and future) or reported speech, and their proper usage was just acquired through instinct and eventually just knowing what sounds right. Sometimes I was even using it wrong, like in some of the reported speech tense shifts, without knowing it because everyone around me, including the english teachers, did the same. This is important because I now know to be very careful about knowing the intricate rules behind everything that comes out of my mouth in class, not just in regards to what I am specifically teaching, so that if there are any questions asked I will not be stuck just saying ?Well, you eventually just instinctively know it.? On the teaching front, I was surprised to learn how detrimental knowing and using the student?s native language can be. I always assumed that if you could explain the new language to them in terms of the old language it would work out well enough, since that is how I learned German. Knowing what I know now, I realize that I would probably have picked up a lot more if the teacher had used nothing but German in the class. Learning the ESA method has also been very helpful, since I grew up in a very traditional class environment where the teacher just talked at the students the whole time, with the only breaks being the occasional reading and worksheet/test. I will be sure to put the ESA method to use as well as limit or remove my use of the student?s native language, if I happen to know it, in the classroom.
