Those who can’t — teach.
There are many students who say they’re “beginners” when it comes to studying English. “I need to start from zero” they’ll tell you in Italian, which is almost never true. If nothing else, they can usually answer the basic questions; How are you? Where are you from? What is your job? etc. But then every once in a while, when a student walks in and you say “how are you?” they answer in what they honestly believe to be English, “bien.”
One particular student like this explained to me that only one foreign language was required when she was in school, and she had chosen French. Now schools tend to require English, plus a choice of another. In fact, this was exactly what made her decide to come to our school this summer. “I’m an elementary school teacher,” she explained, “and this year the classes each have English for an hour or two a week.” As it was required in her curriculum, she thought it would be a good idea to pick up some basic words and pronunciation.
As we outlined some goals and plans for the course, it was decided that instead of following the adult program, she would bring her kids’ books and we could work from those. I was psyched because they would be much more fun than the adult books we have, and she was happy because she’d be focusing on specific things that she needed to know.
When she arrived for the next class, I was surprised to see that she was carrying a whole stack of children’s books and workbooks. They appeared to be levels 1-5 of the same series of books. “Why so many?” I asked. “Don’t you know what class you’ll be teaching yet?”
“Sure,” she told me. “All of them. First to fifth grade, an hour or two each per week. I’m the school’s full-time English teacher.”
Ah, of course.
I think my brain actually began to cry as I tried to work out the logic in this situation. How could something like this happen? What was her interview like? (Do you speak English? Yes? Great, you’re hired!) Who stamped the “OK” on that application? Does she have some sort of powerful connections? Who accepts a job that they are so very painfully unqualified for? And–oh god–what kind of language are those kids going to be speaking by the end of the year??
I mean I guess I can understand why she’s doing it to a certain point. The job market here is rough, and people don’t just go turning down employment offers. And at least she took the initiative to study on her own. But as with many situations here, it makes me feel crazy and there’s not much I can do to change it. So instead, I try not to think too deeply into it, and focus instead on gentle reminders that you don’t pronounce the “t” in “listen” but you do pronounce the “s” at the end of words. (That’s tricky after all the years of French.)
Even though reason sustained a serious blow here, the situation is not without its silver linings. For example, it gives me the hope and comfort that I, too, could get a job in a Roman elementary school if I needed to. Hell, I could apparently teach Japanese, or German, or even Calculus! Because I have learned that you can’t let silly details like a lack of qualifications stand in your way. There is a world of opportunities out there, and all you have to do is say yes.
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Tags: english, esl, italy, rome, teaching
Ora si spiega tutto:)