Teach English in ZhAnglou Zhen - Zhumadian Shi

"To teach is to touch a life forever" Unknown It is a common practice among people to take some time and think of past experiences. Some of us do it to evaluate success and failure and others do it for self-improvement. But, whatever the purpose is, all of us go through different experiences during our lifetime, and it's important to learn from them. As an English teacher, my first days were very challenging. In 2008, I returned to my country with an undergraduate degree in English literature and public communication from the United States. I was offered a teaching job at the most prestigious American language center in the country without an interview or proper assessment. The ESL supervisor had given me the book and assigned me to a class, and I had to do the rest on my own. My first course was very difficult to teach, because I hadn't had any previous knowledge in education or teaching methods. So, I decided to improvise and use the trial and error method. Language was not a problem for me, but teaching it was the main issue I faced. As a start, I tried different methods based on what I remembered from my school days. Furthermore, to deal with students, I had to utilize my knowledge in psychology and communication skills and that was my breakthrough. So, despite my lack of knowledge in teaching, I realized that understanding my students and their needs would help me feel more relaxed and confident. Luckily, it was a step in the right direction. Yet, I had to learn much more and thankfully my passion for the language and culture helped me proceed. Having the teacher's book helped me a lot prepare for my classes. It was my guide mainly for grammar lessons as it provided different techniques for explaining the topics. As for language skills, I preferred to improvise especially with speaking. And I know I have made a lot of mistakes in applying the teaching methods, but gradually I started to improve. After a while, I felt that teaching English was fun for me and my students. The more classes I taught, the more I learned about teaching methods and class management and it was all through trial and error. I remember I was often challenged with situations where the class would have students from different ages ranging from 6-50 years old. This was an issue that required careful and proper handling as to be fair to every student in the class based on their age and interest. I also had to teach classes where students were employees with different kinds of jobs. That part of the job made me enjoy it more as I had to educate myself so I could discuss different topics with the students based on their preferences. I can not say that what I have done was correct. But, I'm thankful that I did not give up due to how my teaching experience had started. I often feel that I did it backwards since I was not qualified like my colleagues who had the necessary education for teaching English. And I'm also happy that a teaching certificate has finally become a requirement and I'm glad I finally invested in my self and took it. After all, my goal is to see my students improve and become successful and it's my duty to make sure I do my best for them. After 8 years of teaching English at different language centers and universities, both in my country and in the U.S., I have learned that teaching is not difficult if we have the willpower to do it. But I also realized that it's a demanding job that requires different skills and a lot of knowledge to make it effective. Through my personal experience, I've come to a conclusion that to be an effective teacher one should first learn how to teach because speaking the language is not enough. Each teacher must be equipped with the proper methods and techniques to qualify for it. I've also learned that flexibility and self-improvement is a must. To sum it up, I'll simply repeat "To teach is to touch a life forever", and I hope I’ll continue to do it as effectively as possible.