The Lessons I Have Learned When I Was An ESL Teacher (Especially If You Are Not An English or Education Major)

I divide this article into two parts: first, the first part of the experience as a newbie teacher, and second, the lessons I have learned that I gladly share with you.

At first, I did not have an idea that I would become a teacher nor wanted to be. However, one time, I saw an advertisement from an online English academy that said that they were looking for Filipinos that can speak and teach English as a second language. I thought that maybe let me try it.

I applied to a few English language academies and thankfully; I got a call for a teaching demo and an interview. First, I had to take a grammar test, and I passed. Next would be the teaching demo.

While doing that said demo, I discovered that I wanted to do this, and suddenly became my dream job.

Sometimes, you cannot realize your calling if you don’t encounter it. You would feel satisfied and contended if you work for it, no matter how tiring it is. As they say, “Do what you love".

Mind you, it is difficult to get this job because as I remember, every academy I applied, they have a rigorous application process just to make sure they will choose a competent applicant.

Because of my perseverance in applying to several academies, I got a job in another academy, which is one of the most premier English Language academies in Cebu, my home province in the Philippines.

It is kind of stressful but fun because you dreamed about it. It was kind of odd because I finished a non-English or Education degree or any related degree and I do not have any prior experience in teaching. In fact, I finished a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Management — Major in Marketing Management. Back in college, the only thing I did which relates to teaching is doing presentations. It is similar in some ways because you have to discuss every point and expound on the finer details to make it understandable.

Unlike other English-speaking countries that require a qualification certificate of teaching English as a foreign/second language (because of competition), most English academies in the Philippines do not require the said certificate as long as you can speak well or at a near-native level. According to Cudoo, the Philippines is the fourth country that has the highest number of English speakers in the world. [1] My current academy only requires a Bachelor’s degree, which is the same as other premier academies in the country.

The good thing is they have the training for your two weeks of employment, which helps me to prepare my way to the real classroom. We have the class observation for a day, which means we observed 8 classes of different teachers and different subjects. In that way, I tried to learn their unique teaching style and followed them. This is a great way to learn it.

Experience is the best method for learning, as they say, nothing beats the experience.

Teaching is not without having challenges. Aside from teaching, it is also managing your students and keeping them satisfied. They pay for money so they do not want to waste it. It is always natural when handling lessons and your students' personalities.

Before I give my list of learnings, there are a few things you have to consider, especially those who have not taught ESL for the first time.

First, you must have clear diction. Clarity is the most important because your students might misunderstand and it will waste your efforts, so you have to repeat after you have said.

Second, you must organize all your lessons for a day. It helps to keep you going and go smoothly.

Last, you must have the CONFIDENCE. You should be confident enough that you can do your job and you would be stress-free.

We are done with the basic prerequisites, let us go dive in for the important lessons I have learned when teaching ESL.

THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT THE GRAMMAR, THEY DO FOR SPEAKING ONLY

This is the first thing I noticed–they do not mind the grammar nor any grammar rules. However, grammar is the most important because it is how the language works. The downside is learning every grammar rule is inefficient and boring.

Why inefficient?

Because even if you know a lot of grammar rules, you still cannot speak, at least decently. I have a lot of students who have been to school a few times, but when I talked to them, they failed to converse with me. I feel that they feel frustrated.

The most important is gaining a more common, useful, and important vocabulary of the language. Research shows you can speak a language if you know at least 3,000 common words, then you can speak in a simple conversation. [2]

What I did was to converse with them using a conversation book that has lots of topics of common scenarios like marriage, family, school, etc. For example, talking about the situation when you found out that your teenage son is smoking. Since most of my students don’t have a family yet, I let to put them in a situation of having a teenage son. After that, I gave them enough time to think and write their response on a piece of paper. Just make sure they have to use other synonyms, idioms, and expressions.

Aside from using conversation topics, you can also use “situation pictures” which show different scenarios in our society including a business meeting, talking at dinner time, taking a bus or train, etc. You just simply tell them to describe every scenario and do not forget to use other synonyms.

YOU SHOULD BUILD THE RAPPORT

Rapport is the most important aspect when dealing with them. Your job is just to make sure that your students have to feel comfortable and not feel awkward.

Honestly, I had some students who dislike me. You can observe with them how they interact with you. In my case, my academy has changing class option weekly. Every week, I have to check my “schedule” who transferred my class to another. At first, I don’t want to let them go, but sometimes, it would build tension between the two of you. It is healthy if you replace them with good ones. It is not a loss but a gain.

Be friendly. I don’t want to be like a typical teacher who has nothing to do but teaching. The fact is, not all students are interested in learning. Sometimes they just want to talk about random things. It does not mean that all of you just talk all week. What I mean is to give yourself and your students a break like telling a story in which they can interact with it, and play games. Scrabble is one of the best options.

BE AN INSPIRATION BY TELLING YOUR STORY AS A LEARNER NOT AS A TEACHER

This is something different.

You must be a role model for your students by telling your story when you were trying other things, not just only learning English.

For example, tell a story about taking a review class for your licensure exam. Sometimes you have to review what you have learned most of your lessons in college. Tell them how hard that licensure exam was and how you succeeded it.

An exception to the rule, you can tell one’s success story about not just only learning of all things but also overcoming struggles.

One good example, Albert Einstein was a popular scientist and extraordinary genius who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921 because of his contributions towards science. However, his life was not easy for him before he attained success. When he was young, he experienced continuous failures. His speech impediment until the age of nine years caused his expulsion from the school. [3]

He quoted that success is a failure in progress, and someone who has never failed cannot truly be a successful person.

I, myself, have read some inspirational quotes and stories to make me inspired. I promise. It is working.

GIVE THEM STRATEGIES TO LEARN FASTER

Like I mentioned, I give them speaking topics and use synonyms, idioms, and expressions.

Yet, it is not enough. Thankfully, there are many available learning products we can use at our disposal. You can advise them to use it in their spare time.

Using our smartphones, there are several mobile apps used to learn English efficiently. I recommend Knudge.me and I use it several times. The good thing is they have different interactive games. Yes, playing games while learning. I played it and I find it very efficient because they feature three to ten new vocabularies at one single play depends on your level of language competence. If you play this game again, you can encounter these same vocabularies again. It is not stressful and boring compared to textbooks.

Another thing is to watch movies they like. I do not want to force my students to watch, which I recommend, but they don’t like it. I found many YouTube videos about learning English discussing each vocabulary, idioms, and pronunciation. It is helpful. To retain what they learn from watching, they have to watch it repeatedly.

As a teacher, it is rewarding for me to share my knowledge and to inspire them to learn more. Even other people consider as one of the noblest professions in society.

For aspiring teachers, honestly, it is not an undemanding job because, sometimes, you will have a student who has “the attitude”. It takes patience and confidence. Don’t forget to wear your best smile.

This is not just a teaching profession, but also other noble professions. In every profession we do, we also learn many things from our experience. With these learnings, we can be better professionals in our respective fields.

This is the reason why several companies are keen on looking for applicants with years of experience.

To all, keep learning.

SOURCES:

[1] Which Countries Have the Most English Speakers? (2020, May 13). Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://cudoo.com/blog/which-countries-have-the-most-english-speakers/

[2] Gibbons, J. (2020, March 04). The Numbers Game: How Many Words Do I Need to Know to Be Fluent in a Foreign Language? Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/how-many-words-do-i-need-to-know/)/

[3] Gibbons, J. (2020, March 04). The Numbers Game: How Many Words Do I Need to Know to Be Fluent in a Foreign Language? Retrieved October 09, 2020, from https://www.fluentu.com/blog/how-many-words-do-i-need-to-know/)/