Teaching ESL

Building in Upper Lake, CA

Old house in Upper Lake, CA

Today I drove to Tracy, which is about an hour away, to work in a school for an hour. When I got there I found out the materials I needed hadn't arrived yet and I made arrangements to come back next week. When I was driving home I got a desperate call from a recruiter that needed me to do some paperwork for a person that was at the place where they were going to sign a document, but couldn't until they got my paperwork. Why did they wait until the same day to find out they needed the paperwork? So, I went to the office they were in and prepared and signed the document they needed. I then went to a career fair to talk to people looking for jobs. I had dinner with my youngest daughter, Sarah and then I went to an information seminar to tell people about my weekend job. I teach ESL teachers how to teach in other countries. One of the questions that came up tonight was whether they needed prior teaching experience. My answer was they didn't need teaching experience because teaching ESL is different than teaching other tings. Teaching ESL isn't really teaching anything, it is being a facilitator to encourage students to talk and motivate them to do what they have learned to do over the many years they have been studying English. Think about it, EVERY students in Asia has taken English classes for at least 6 years, 3 in Middle School and 3 High School. If you went to college that is another 2 years. But, if you go to Asia how many people admit they can speak English? NONE! Even the people that speak decent English will not admit they do, they will tell you they can't speak English. How does that happen? Well, to begin with, their teachers are in the same mind set, they don't think they can speak English either! They can pass grammar tests, but they can't write a sentence, let alone speak a sentence. So, teaching ESL is convincing students they know English and finding ways to show them they speak it. Play a game that they must use English, but they don't realize they are speaking English, just think they are playing a game. I always tell people don't think English is work, think of it as play. So, everyone that lives in an English speaking country should be happy, they are playing throughout their daily lives. So, smile!!

One of the last pay phones in California!