After last Thursday's terse speech on not speaking Russian, along with their listening test on the communicative method, I braced myself for dropouts. I wondered what would happen if they all just simply dropped out. Surely there would be hell to pay (and guess who'd have to pay it?)
Again, I worried for nothing. Only one student from last week failed to show up (unfortunately, it was the gorgeous Russian hunk who actually tied for the highest score on the listening test) but everyone else made it. And two people who missed last week's lesson were unprepared.
Instead of writing their names on the board with a check mark, instead I drew a stick figure representing myself and at the top, wrote "Kill Yvette." Whenever they spoke Russian (only ONE of the students from last week made a mistake and said a word in Russian), I erased a body part. I played this game in my pre-teen class, too.
So, of course, one of my lower-level students (who's also really argumentative and is always asking "Why?" and stuff), was speaking Russian. She ignored the pleas of her classmates to stop. I kept erasing my own body parts. The rest of the class was aghast as I "died."
Finally, when she was through talking to the guy sitting next to her, I said, "Tell me what you said. In English."
She said, "I don't understand this word 'rescue.'"
I thought to myself: Well, you would understand it if you'd bothered to come to the last class! It was part of the vocab lesson! But instead, I said, sweetly, "Can someone tell her what the definition of rescue is?"
One of my high-level students spoke up brilliantly. She said it is when you get saved. "For example, there is a house on fire. I am in the house. And the firefighter comes to me. And he [at this point, she used body language to explain the word "carry"]. And I am not dead." I applauded.
The other woman smirked at me. "He already gave me the definition, so I did not need it again," she said.
I maintained my composure, feeling, for once, in complete control. "Can someone explain to her why we are not asking our classmates for definitions in Russian?"
My former troublemaker-turned choir boy said, "Because we are not speaking in Russian in English class anymore. Yvette said so at last lesson."
I gave the other woman a triumphant smile and nodded my head once, as in, "So there."
IT WAS A KODAK MOMENT, BABY!!!!
Now, I've got them all speaking English and yes, they are now trying just as hard as I do in my beginner Russian class! Because they spoke more English, they actually error-corrected each other much more than usual. Plus, when they need a word, they are not pulling out their dictionaries as I anticipate. No, they explain a word in context to me! They use body language! Some sample questions:
What is it called, the last year of high school?
What is it, "immersed." Oh, like a submarine is immersed in the ocean?
What is it, the last dance of high school?
What is it, not a king, but a woman king is a ....?
YEAH, BRING IT ON! NO MORE RUSSIAN! YOU GUYS SEE HOW THIS WORKS! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
I hope one day one of them rushes to the board, not to freak out over a grammar point, but to draw a picture of something so I can define it.
One of the students asked me to go out with her for beers this weekend to speak English. She basically offered to pay me for my services with alcohol, and I readily agreed.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A Victory - But With a Price
I had a pit in my stomach all day today, thinking about my intermediate adult class. In one of my kids' classes, I told them how great they all were, and how happy I was that they're such a great class. They looked at me suspiciously, and then finally, cautiously, said thank you.
In the hours before my evening adult class, I tried to calm myself by smoking cigarettes, popping a pill (don't judge me!) and drinking plenty of tea.
At the end of my last juniors' class (at 7:15), I began my preparations. I got tape from the office for my sign. I started writing the evening's agenda on the left-hand side of the board, in small letters.
Finally, it was 7:25 and my adults started trickling in.
I greeted them warmly as I always do. We spoke about our days, etc.
One or two of them glanced at the agenda, but didn't ask any questions, even though I've never done this before. This is what I wrote on the far-left hand side of the board before class started:
Agenda:
Homework
Go over Tuesday's test
Lesson - Break
Lecture
Listening Test
When the clock struck 7:30, I officially began my class by opening up my book and pulling out the poster I had printed out last night. Here is what it said:
SPEAKING RUSSIAN IN ENGLISH CLASS WILL NO LONGER BE TOLERATED
I showed it to each of them, and then taped it to the middle of the white board. I told them I would explain everything later, and then began my lesson.
A few minutes into things, one of the men spoke a sentence in Russian. I wrote his name on the board and put a check mark next to it.
He spoke not a SINGLE word of Russian for the rest of the class. And, I'm telling you - this guy is accustomed to speaking Russian HALF the freaking time in my class.
Another guy walked in late. He looked at the poster, and looked at me. I smiled at him, said, "Welcome!" and continued with the lesson.
That man spoke something in Russian and I wrote his name on the board, too. (He ended up getting 4 marks total, while the first guy only got one).
The rest of the class received no marks at all.
We went through the lesson, although I do have to say that the mood was much more subdued than usual. One of the girls spoke in a rather hushed voice. The thing is - I wasn't angry anymore. I knew I was finally in control, and it felt good - but I did feel a certain loss of camaraderie. They were scared. They understood this was a serious thing. I guess that is the price I must pay. But perhaps they'll get over it by next lesson.
At one point in the lesson, the two men got into an argument over the text (it was about whether or not there's too much sex and violence on TV) and that's when the second man got another point next to his name.
See, this is what happens - they start discussing the text, get impassioned and start speaking in Russian. This quickly turns to shouting. I frankly don't care if they shout or argue - I in fact encourage it - but in ENGLISH!
Halfway through the lesson, I pointed to the word "Break" on the agenda, and told everyone that we were going to break for five minutes during every lesson from now on. Not a single person asked why. I smiled at them, and said, "See you back in class in five minutes."
I went outside for a cigarette, a stretch, and then I used the ladies' room.
When I got back in the class, I was surprised that they were still speaking English. Only one person had made use of the break (he was in the hallway on the phone).
We finished the lesson and at 9:25 (20 minutes before class ended), I gave them my speech.
The Speech
I stood in the center of the room, and did not focus my attention on anyone in particular. I was so saddened that I had to do this, you see. I didn't want to.
So I began by saying, "I don't want to make this speech, but I must. I have no choice anymore. Because the amount of Russian speaking in this class has become a problem and it cannot continue."
The students were silent, each of them looking right at me. I smiled, to reassure them.
This is pretty much verbatim my speech:
"From now on, there will be no Russian at all in this class. Zero. Not for translation. Not for anything. If you are trying to use a word you don't know, you can ask me for help or use a dictionary, but I cannot have you speaking Russian to each other anymore. None.
"Does anyone remember when they learned how to ride a bicycle?"
Some of the students nodded slowly. The businessman said, "Yes, but it was so long ago."
"What happens when you first learn how to ride a bicycle?"
No one answered.
"You fall off. But you keep getting on the bicycle until you know how to ride.
"Does anyone remember their first kiss?"
"Yes," one of the ladies said slowly. She didn't seem to get where I was going.
"What happened during your first kiss? You didn't know what you were doing, right? Do you remember kissing for the first time and not knowing what you were supposed to do?"
One of the men nodded and smiled.
"How did we learn how to kiss?" I asked.
One of the men said, "By practicing."
"Exactly!" I said. "We learned how to be good kissers by kissing more."
I continued:
"In my beginning Russian class, I have a teacher who speaks to us only in Russian. She is fluent in English. My classmates speak to each other only in Russian. I speak to her only in Russian. I know almost no Russian at all. But I communicate with her only in Russian. Can someone tell me why do we only speak Russian in my Russian class?"
There was a long pause.
I wasn't going to let it go.
"Tell me, guys - why do I NEVER speak English to my Russian teacher, even though she is fluent in English? Why do my classmates NEVER speak English to each other?"
At this point, the businessman (who is the worst offender in class, to tell you the truth), broke his gaze on me and began to squirm. He knew what I was getting at, I sensed. He's a super intelligent guy. I zeroed in on him.
"Tell me why," I persisted.
He wouldn't look at me and continued to fidget. "I think I know why, but I don't want to say," he said softly.
I smiled. "I don't want to say it, either. But I will."
I wrote on the board: RESPECT
I pointed at the word and let it sink in.
"We must have respect for each other in this class," I said quietly. "And that means speaking English and only English."
And with that, the lecture ended. I handed out the listening test.
I read them the text twice. There was a listening comprehension part, and a "fill in the blank" part.
The text I read to them was on the communicative method of learning English as a foreign language.
In the hours before my evening adult class, I tried to calm myself by smoking cigarettes, popping a pill (don't judge me!) and drinking plenty of tea.
At the end of my last juniors' class (at 7:15), I began my preparations. I got tape from the office for my sign. I started writing the evening's agenda on the left-hand side of the board, in small letters.
Finally, it was 7:25 and my adults started trickling in.
I greeted them warmly as I always do. We spoke about our days, etc.
One or two of them glanced at the agenda, but didn't ask any questions, even though I've never done this before. This is what I wrote on the far-left hand side of the board before class started:
Agenda:
Homework
Go over Tuesday's test
Lesson - Break
Lecture
Listening Test
When the clock struck 7:30, I officially began my class by opening up my book and pulling out the poster I had printed out last night. Here is what it said:
SPEAKING RUSSIAN IN ENGLISH CLASS WILL NO LONGER BE TOLERATED
I showed it to each of them, and then taped it to the middle of the white board. I told them I would explain everything later, and then began my lesson.
A few minutes into things, one of the men spoke a sentence in Russian. I wrote his name on the board and put a check mark next to it.
He spoke not a SINGLE word of Russian for the rest of the class. And, I'm telling you - this guy is accustomed to speaking Russian HALF the freaking time in my class.
Another guy walked in late. He looked at the poster, and looked at me. I smiled at him, said, "Welcome!" and continued with the lesson.
That man spoke something in Russian and I wrote his name on the board, too. (He ended up getting 4 marks total, while the first guy only got one).
The rest of the class received no marks at all.
We went through the lesson, although I do have to say that the mood was much more subdued than usual. One of the girls spoke in a rather hushed voice. The thing is - I wasn't angry anymore. I knew I was finally in control, and it felt good - but I did feel a certain loss of camaraderie. They were scared. They understood this was a serious thing. I guess that is the price I must pay. But perhaps they'll get over it by next lesson.
At one point in the lesson, the two men got into an argument over the text (it was about whether or not there's too much sex and violence on TV) and that's when the second man got another point next to his name.
See, this is what happens - they start discussing the text, get impassioned and start speaking in Russian. This quickly turns to shouting. I frankly don't care if they shout or argue - I in fact encourage it - but in ENGLISH!
Halfway through the lesson, I pointed to the word "Break" on the agenda, and told everyone that we were going to break for five minutes during every lesson from now on. Not a single person asked why. I smiled at them, and said, "See you back in class in five minutes."
I went outside for a cigarette, a stretch, and then I used the ladies' room.
When I got back in the class, I was surprised that they were still speaking English. Only one person had made use of the break (he was in the hallway on the phone).
We finished the lesson and at 9:25 (20 minutes before class ended), I gave them my speech.
The Speech
I stood in the center of the room, and did not focus my attention on anyone in particular. I was so saddened that I had to do this, you see. I didn't want to.
So I began by saying, "I don't want to make this speech, but I must. I have no choice anymore. Because the amount of Russian speaking in this class has become a problem and it cannot continue."
The students were silent, each of them looking right at me. I smiled, to reassure them.
This is pretty much verbatim my speech:
"From now on, there will be no Russian at all in this class. Zero. Not for translation. Not for anything. If you are trying to use a word you don't know, you can ask me for help or use a dictionary, but I cannot have you speaking Russian to each other anymore. None.
"Does anyone remember when they learned how to ride a bicycle?"
Some of the students nodded slowly. The businessman said, "Yes, but it was so long ago."
"What happens when you first learn how to ride a bicycle?"
No one answered.
"You fall off. But you keep getting on the bicycle until you know how to ride.
"Does anyone remember their first kiss?"
"Yes," one of the ladies said slowly. She didn't seem to get where I was going.
"What happened during your first kiss? You didn't know what you were doing, right? Do you remember kissing for the first time and not knowing what you were supposed to do?"
One of the men nodded and smiled.
"How did we learn how to kiss?" I asked.
One of the men said, "By practicing."
"Exactly!" I said. "We learned how to be good kissers by kissing more."
I continued:
"In my beginning Russian class, I have a teacher who speaks to us only in Russian. She is fluent in English. My classmates speak to each other only in Russian. I speak to her only in Russian. I know almost no Russian at all. But I communicate with her only in Russian. Can someone tell me why do we only speak Russian in my Russian class?"
There was a long pause.
I wasn't going to let it go.
"Tell me, guys - why do I NEVER speak English to my Russian teacher, even though she is fluent in English? Why do my classmates NEVER speak English to each other?"
At this point, the businessman (who is the worst offender in class, to tell you the truth), broke his gaze on me and began to squirm. He knew what I was getting at, I sensed. He's a super intelligent guy. I zeroed in on him.
"Tell me why," I persisted.
He wouldn't look at me and continued to fidget. "I think I know why, but I don't want to say," he said softly.
I smiled. "I don't want to say it, either. But I will."
I wrote on the board: RESPECT
I pointed at the word and let it sink in.
"We must have respect for each other in this class," I said quietly. "And that means speaking English and only English."
And with that, the lecture ended. I handed out the listening test.
I read them the text twice. There was a listening comprehension part, and a "fill in the blank" part.
The text I read to them was on the communicative method of learning English as a foreign language.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Decision Time
I have talked it over with a few colleagues, and here is my decision: I am not going to take anymore shit in my classes anymore when it comes to speaking Russian.
I don't speak English in my Russian class, and my students are no longer allowed to speak Russian in my classes. Period. I have given some of them too much leeway and they have abused it.
In my juniors class today, they were speaking too much Russian. Here is what I did that solved the problem immediately:
I drew stick figures on the board, each with a student's name over it. I wrote on the board "Who will live and who will die?" Any time I heard someone speak Russian, I erased a body part. Here's the thing - after a person lost two body parts, they spoke NO RUSSIAN AT ALL for the rest of the lesson! A 90-minute lesson! One boy timidly asked me what would happen if one of the stick figures "died." I told him he really didn't want to know. That shut him up.
Now, about 1/3 of the class didn't want to do their exercises and insisted on chatting instead, and I must say - I didn't care. I told them that it was entirely up to them whether or not they wanted to pass the next exam. So, 1/3 of the class (boys) chatted in English about school, movies and video games, and I helped the rest of the class prepare for our upcoming exam. During lulls, I error corrected the boys who were chatting. I have to tell you - it was a pretty good class. 2/3 of the class busily did the grammar exercises, and I helped them along. They pretty much snubbed the three boys who were all speaking in English.
I considered trying this out on my adult class, but I have decided not to. Instead, they're going to get a simple speech from me.
The Speech
No more Russian is allowed in my classroom. At all. I'm going to tell them that if they cannot explain a word in English, they will have to either look it up in the dictionary or just not say it at all. No more Russian. I was patient with them. But, here's the thing - in my beginner Russian class, we do not speak English to our teacher (even though she is fluent in English) because she has made it clear that it is unacceptable, and we respect her.
These adult Russian students are disrespecting me by speaking in Russian half the time, and I've got to put a stop to it. Because, there are about 3 students who RARELY speak Russian in class. They respect me. And their classmates are disrespecting them, as well as me, by speaking Russian.
There's a poster on the wall of my classroom that says, "It's silly to speak Russian when you're studying English."
Well, I'm making a new poster tonight. This one will say something along the lines of, "Speaking Russian in English class is not allowed."
They don't have to like me, but they are damn well going to respect me.
I considered making a long, detailed, reasoned plea to them, explaining the immersion and communicative method, explaining that they will not learn English by speaking Russian, blah, blah, blah. And I decided against an emotional speech. No, mine will be short, clear, and to the point. They will not speak Russian any longer. They will either try to help me come up with the right word, or they will use a dictionary. I've had it with them. I can't threaten to kick them out of class - I have no authority to do so and would probably, in fact, be fired if I did so - but there will be consequences.
They will be graded not on how well they speak, but how much English they speak. Russians are nuts about tests. And from now on, they will get a "test" grade every so often on their speaking. If they spoke only English in class, they'll get an A no matter how broken their English is.
If they spoke Russian in class, they will fail the speaking portion of the exam. Simple as that.
No More Babying Them
From now on, if I get a stupid question like, "What does jogging mean?" I'm going to tell them to look it up. I'm sorry, but if you are in my intermediate adult class, you should know what jogging is.
If they say, rudely, "I don't understand," no longer will I rush to their side and gently try to explain things to them again. For one thing, it doesn't work. For another thing, it's wasting my time - if everyone else understands it, and you don't - I'm just not going to waste any more class time on you. Sorry - it's survival of the fittest.
No More Being Challenged - Grammar Points and My Authority
This one, I've already pretty much got down. If they ask me, "How do I say this in the present perfect tense?" I throw it back at them. "Tell me the context. Tell me the function. You cannot say to a native speaker in America 'I'm trying to say it in the present perfect.' They won't understand you."
When they ask me, "What are the exceptions," from now on, I'm going to tell them to look it up.
When they ask, "Why?" I'm going to say either A) "Because that's the way it is" or B) "Because I said so."
Mandatory Breaks
My intermediate adult class told me, during our first lesson, that they didn't want a break in the middle of the class. I agreed. But from now on, like every single class, we will have a mandatory five-minute break. It's standard operating procedure in classes that long (it's 2 hours and 15 minutes). If they don't like it, tough. They can complain to the administration. The administration will tell them the same thing - it's SOP.
So, I feel a lot better now. I tell you, I was INFURIATED after my last lesson with them. And then I realized it was similar to the behavior problems I experienced with my kid classes the first week of teaching. I was trying to be nice, trying to be patient, trying to be accommodating and understanding and it didn't work. So I got tough.
Some of them are not going to like what I have to tell them tomorrow AT ALL, and that's just too fucking bad. Some of the students are going to be relieved and thrilled that I've finally gotten the balls to put a halt to the speaking of Russian,, and it's those students I care about.
I also have a sneaking suspicion that some of the trouble-makers are also going to be glad that I'm setting boundaries. People only push boundaries when they actually really want limits.
I don't speak English in my Russian class, and my students are no longer allowed to speak Russian in my classes. Period. I have given some of them too much leeway and they have abused it.
In my juniors class today, they were speaking too much Russian. Here is what I did that solved the problem immediately:
I drew stick figures on the board, each with a student's name over it. I wrote on the board "Who will live and who will die?" Any time I heard someone speak Russian, I erased a body part. Here's the thing - after a person lost two body parts, they spoke NO RUSSIAN AT ALL for the rest of the lesson! A 90-minute lesson! One boy timidly asked me what would happen if one of the stick figures "died." I told him he really didn't want to know. That shut him up.
Now, about 1/3 of the class didn't want to do their exercises and insisted on chatting instead, and I must say - I didn't care. I told them that it was entirely up to them whether or not they wanted to pass the next exam. So, 1/3 of the class (boys) chatted in English about school, movies and video games, and I helped the rest of the class prepare for our upcoming exam. During lulls, I error corrected the boys who were chatting. I have to tell you - it was a pretty good class. 2/3 of the class busily did the grammar exercises, and I helped them along. They pretty much snubbed the three boys who were all speaking in English.
I considered trying this out on my adult class, but I have decided not to. Instead, they're going to get a simple speech from me.
The Speech
No more Russian is allowed in my classroom. At all. I'm going to tell them that if they cannot explain a word in English, they will have to either look it up in the dictionary or just not say it at all. No more Russian. I was patient with them. But, here's the thing - in my beginner Russian class, we do not speak English to our teacher (even though she is fluent in English) because she has made it clear that it is unacceptable, and we respect her.
These adult Russian students are disrespecting me by speaking in Russian half the time, and I've got to put a stop to it. Because, there are about 3 students who RARELY speak Russian in class. They respect me. And their classmates are disrespecting them, as well as me, by speaking Russian.
There's a poster on the wall of my classroom that says, "It's silly to speak Russian when you're studying English."
Well, I'm making a new poster tonight. This one will say something along the lines of, "Speaking Russian in English class is not allowed."
They don't have to like me, but they are damn well going to respect me.
I considered making a long, detailed, reasoned plea to them, explaining the immersion and communicative method, explaining that they will not learn English by speaking Russian, blah, blah, blah. And I decided against an emotional speech. No, mine will be short, clear, and to the point. They will not speak Russian any longer. They will either try to help me come up with the right word, or they will use a dictionary. I've had it with them. I can't threaten to kick them out of class - I have no authority to do so and would probably, in fact, be fired if I did so - but there will be consequences.
They will be graded not on how well they speak, but how much English they speak. Russians are nuts about tests. And from now on, they will get a "test" grade every so often on their speaking. If they spoke only English in class, they'll get an A no matter how broken their English is.
If they spoke Russian in class, they will fail the speaking portion of the exam. Simple as that.
No More Babying Them
From now on, if I get a stupid question like, "What does jogging mean?" I'm going to tell them to look it up. I'm sorry, but if you are in my intermediate adult class, you should know what jogging is.
If they say, rudely, "I don't understand," no longer will I rush to their side and gently try to explain things to them again. For one thing, it doesn't work. For another thing, it's wasting my time - if everyone else understands it, and you don't - I'm just not going to waste any more class time on you. Sorry - it's survival of the fittest.
No More Being Challenged - Grammar Points and My Authority
This one, I've already pretty much got down. If they ask me, "How do I say this in the present perfect tense?" I throw it back at them. "Tell me the context. Tell me the function. You cannot say to a native speaker in America 'I'm trying to say it in the present perfect.' They won't understand you."
When they ask me, "What are the exceptions," from now on, I'm going to tell them to look it up.
When they ask, "Why?" I'm going to say either A) "Because that's the way it is" or B) "Because I said so."
Mandatory Breaks
My intermediate adult class told me, during our first lesson, that they didn't want a break in the middle of the class. I agreed. But from now on, like every single class, we will have a mandatory five-minute break. It's standard operating procedure in classes that long (it's 2 hours and 15 minutes). If they don't like it, tough. They can complain to the administration. The administration will tell them the same thing - it's SOP.
So, I feel a lot better now. I tell you, I was INFURIATED after my last lesson with them. And then I realized it was similar to the behavior problems I experienced with my kid classes the first week of teaching. I was trying to be nice, trying to be patient, trying to be accommodating and understanding and it didn't work. So I got tough.
Some of them are not going to like what I have to tell them tomorrow AT ALL, and that's just too fucking bad. Some of the students are going to be relieved and thrilled that I've finally gotten the balls to put a halt to the speaking of Russian,, and it's those students I care about.
I also have a sneaking suspicion that some of the trouble-makers are also going to be glad that I'm setting boundaries. People only push boundaries when they actually really want limits.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Dear Difficult Adult Students
You know I love you. I do, really I do. I love some of you more than I love others, but that is only natural - I am only human.
I love it when you ask me questions that are relevant. I love it when you ask me questions about vocabulary and phrases, and I love it when you ask me about how to say things in a socially acceptable manner. I love it when you do your homework. When I hear you speaking English (and I know that speaking, period, is a struggle for some of you), my heart rejoices.
Sometimes, I love you guys so much you bring tears to my eyes.
You. The one with red hair and bright eyes. A choke rose in my throat when you told me that after I played that one song in class, you went and bought it on iTunes, and actually played it "15 or 20 times," you said, because you loved it so much. It was Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." I love that song, too. You said that you even tried to sing along. Oh, man - how many hearts have you broken? You are such a beautiful, pleasant girl. I heart you so much.
And you, big rich businessman! I love you too, even though you drive me crazy. You can make me laugh - and the ability to communicate a joke in a foreign language is a huge thing. You know exactly what is going on and you're up for any challenge.
Hunky guy in the back - I adore you. I remember when you were talking about your day job - I think you're the manager of a strip club - and you looked furtively at me, wondering if it was OK to talk about it. OF COURSE IT IS! You're not using any bad words. I explained the word "stripper" and "pole," and you were relieved and you smiled at me. You try so hard. The language does not come easy to you. I am glad you are here.
I love it when you ask me for more stuff. You want more worksheets? You got it! You want more songs? Yes, yes, yes! I love music, too. You want reading material? Oh, man - I've got recommendations for you. You want to talk with me? Me? I am honored. Of course we can talk. I love to hear you speak, you see. It makes me feel like I'm achieving something. In fact, we both are - as teacher and learner, we are simultaneously experiencing something that's really wonderful.
But - and of course in a letter like this, there is always a "but" - BUT - here is what I absolutely hate about you.
I hate it when you ask me "Why?" I do not understand why you keep asking me "Why" when most times, there is simply no good answer. "Why must we say it like this? Why can't we say it like this?" Because you can't. There is no explanation. Each language has its own rules. Language is an art, not a science. I've told you this a million times.
I hate it when you say, accusingly, "I don't understand." I assume, by this statement, that you are somehow implying that it is my fault that you don't understand. If every other person in class understands, and you do not - is that my fault? I try to help you. I explain it in every way possible. And it is my opinion that you don't WANT to understand. It's not that you don't understand - it's that you don't like it. I'll tell you a little secret - when the others start shouting at you in Russian to explain the situation in your native language, I don't mind at all. Please don't take this the wrong way - but I don't think you should be in my class. The class is too advanced for you. Out of an entire text, most of the class only had questions on one or two words. You claimed to know no words but two or three. You are either exaggerating to show your displeasure, or you're at the wrong level.
I hate it when you challenge my authority. "Why must we do this?" you ask. Uh ... because we're in English class and that's what we do?
I hate it when you challenge my methods. For example, when you asked me if you could receive a translation of a text ahead of time, you couldn't understand why I said "No." I said it vehemently.
I've told you guys this a million times - we are NOT learning English the way you did in grade school! You tried it that way, and it didn't work, remember? You had years and years of translation and rote memorization. It didn't work. That's why we're doing things my way. We're learning it through context and through the communicative method.
I hate it when you say, "What are the exceptions? My last teacher said there are three exceptions." I looked it up, and guess what? Your last teacher was bullshitting you. The truth is that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of exceptions to every "rule." Why do you want to make things so hard on yourselves? Isn't learning what we are learning tonight hard enough?
What's that, you say? You in the corner. You don't like the communicative method? Guess what? You have a choice. There are a ton of language schools. The communicative method is currently the most popular method of achieving fluency, but you don't have to learn it this way if you don't want to. Find a different school. But, you liked it just fine last week! What happened to you tonight? Why did you rebel?
And finally, most importantly - I hate it when you speak Russian when you're supposed to be speaking English. When one of you starts speaking Russian, it's a domino effect - everyone starts speaking Russian.
I've asked you politely. I've glared at you. I've spoken to you gently, "Can you say it in English? Can you try saying it in English?" Sometimes one of you will translate it for me. And you know what drives me nuts? When it is something that you COULD have very well said on your own. I mean, come on! I speak only Russian to my Russian teacher, and I have the speaking ability of a small, retarded toddler in Russian class! If I can make myself understood in my super-beginner Russian class - then you can damn well make the same effort in my class.
I love you guys, but sometimes you drive me crazy.
"Why drive?" I can hear you saying. "Why do you say 'drive'? That's for a car! What other things do you say 'drive' for? What are the exceptions? I don't understand! Why? Why? Why?"
I love you guys, but really - this should be fun. It should be a pleasure. Please don't attack the language as though you are at war with it. It is not your enemy.
Sometimes, I get the distinct feeling that you are looking for a fight, and that's when I lose my patience with you. If you are complacent and jolly and doing exactly as I say - then there should be no problems.
But when you bring in your angry emotions to class - I can feel it, and so can everyone else. You've got to get ahold of yourself! It's only English - it's not brain surgery. No one will die if you say something in the wrong tense. Stop using your grammar knowledge as a crutch. Stop using your Russian as a crutch. Speak English, damn you! I know you can - I've heard you speak it! It's a beautiful thing! Why do you want to hide it? Don't you understand that like all beautiful things, it is the imperfection itself that makes it so beautiful?
The only way we can learn how to speak English is by speaking English. I keep telling you this.
But tonight - it was like you didn't believe me.
I love it when you ask me questions that are relevant. I love it when you ask me questions about vocabulary and phrases, and I love it when you ask me about how to say things in a socially acceptable manner. I love it when you do your homework. When I hear you speaking English (and I know that speaking, period, is a struggle for some of you), my heart rejoices.
Sometimes, I love you guys so much you bring tears to my eyes.
You. The one with red hair and bright eyes. A choke rose in my throat when you told me that after I played that one song in class, you went and bought it on iTunes, and actually played it "15 or 20 times," you said, because you loved it so much. It was Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." I love that song, too. You said that you even tried to sing along. Oh, man - how many hearts have you broken? You are such a beautiful, pleasant girl. I heart you so much.
And you, big rich businessman! I love you too, even though you drive me crazy. You can make me laugh - and the ability to communicate a joke in a foreign language is a huge thing. You know exactly what is going on and you're up for any challenge.
Hunky guy in the back - I adore you. I remember when you were talking about your day job - I think you're the manager of a strip club - and you looked furtively at me, wondering if it was OK to talk about it. OF COURSE IT IS! You're not using any bad words. I explained the word "stripper" and "pole," and you were relieved and you smiled at me. You try so hard. The language does not come easy to you. I am glad you are here.
I love it when you ask me for more stuff. You want more worksheets? You got it! You want more songs? Yes, yes, yes! I love music, too. You want reading material? Oh, man - I've got recommendations for you. You want to talk with me? Me? I am honored. Of course we can talk. I love to hear you speak, you see. It makes me feel like I'm achieving something. In fact, we both are - as teacher and learner, we are simultaneously experiencing something that's really wonderful.
But - and of course in a letter like this, there is always a "but" - BUT - here is what I absolutely hate about you.
I hate it when you ask me "Why?" I do not understand why you keep asking me "Why" when most times, there is simply no good answer. "Why must we say it like this? Why can't we say it like this?" Because you can't. There is no explanation. Each language has its own rules. Language is an art, not a science. I've told you this a million times.
I hate it when you say, accusingly, "I don't understand." I assume, by this statement, that you are somehow implying that it is my fault that you don't understand. If every other person in class understands, and you do not - is that my fault? I try to help you. I explain it in every way possible. And it is my opinion that you don't WANT to understand. It's not that you don't understand - it's that you don't like it. I'll tell you a little secret - when the others start shouting at you in Russian to explain the situation in your native language, I don't mind at all. Please don't take this the wrong way - but I don't think you should be in my class. The class is too advanced for you. Out of an entire text, most of the class only had questions on one or two words. You claimed to know no words but two or three. You are either exaggerating to show your displeasure, or you're at the wrong level.
I hate it when you challenge my authority. "Why must we do this?" you ask. Uh ... because we're in English class and that's what we do?
I hate it when you challenge my methods. For example, when you asked me if you could receive a translation of a text ahead of time, you couldn't understand why I said "No." I said it vehemently.
I've told you guys this a million times - we are NOT learning English the way you did in grade school! You tried it that way, and it didn't work, remember? You had years and years of translation and rote memorization. It didn't work. That's why we're doing things my way. We're learning it through context and through the communicative method.
I hate it when you say, "What are the exceptions? My last teacher said there are three exceptions." I looked it up, and guess what? Your last teacher was bullshitting you. The truth is that there are hundreds, maybe thousands of exceptions to every "rule." Why do you want to make things so hard on yourselves? Isn't learning what we are learning tonight hard enough?
What's that, you say? You in the corner. You don't like the communicative method? Guess what? You have a choice. There are a ton of language schools. The communicative method is currently the most popular method of achieving fluency, but you don't have to learn it this way if you don't want to. Find a different school. But, you liked it just fine last week! What happened to you tonight? Why did you rebel?
And finally, most importantly - I hate it when you speak Russian when you're supposed to be speaking English. When one of you starts speaking Russian, it's a domino effect - everyone starts speaking Russian.
I've asked you politely. I've glared at you. I've spoken to you gently, "Can you say it in English? Can you try saying it in English?" Sometimes one of you will translate it for me. And you know what drives me nuts? When it is something that you COULD have very well said on your own. I mean, come on! I speak only Russian to my Russian teacher, and I have the speaking ability of a small, retarded toddler in Russian class! If I can make myself understood in my super-beginner Russian class - then you can damn well make the same effort in my class.
I love you guys, but sometimes you drive me crazy.
"Why drive?" I can hear you saying. "Why do you say 'drive'? That's for a car! What other things do you say 'drive' for? What are the exceptions? I don't understand! Why? Why? Why?"
I love you guys, but really - this should be fun. It should be a pleasure. Please don't attack the language as though you are at war with it. It is not your enemy.
Sometimes, I get the distinct feeling that you are looking for a fight, and that's when I lose my patience with you. If you are complacent and jolly and doing exactly as I say - then there should be no problems.
But when you bring in your angry emotions to class - I can feel it, and so can everyone else. You've got to get ahold of yourself! It's only English - it's not brain surgery. No one will die if you say something in the wrong tense. Stop using your grammar knowledge as a crutch. Stop using your Russian as a crutch. Speak English, damn you! I know you can - I've heard you speak it! It's a beautiful thing! Why do you want to hide it? Don't you understand that like all beautiful things, it is the imperfection itself that makes it so beautiful?
The only way we can learn how to speak English is by speaking English. I keep telling you this.
But tonight - it was like you didn't believe me.
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Love of Language
As I study Russian, and learn some things from my students, I fall more and more in love with language.
Bully
For example, several weeks ago, one of my adult students asked for the definition of "bully." I explained it's a noun and verb used to describe when a person is picking on someone else, being mean to them.
"When do you use it?" they asked.
I explained you can use it in the office, in school - anywhere. "Office bully, schoolyard bully," I explained.
Ahhhh, they said. One of the students told me that in the Russian language there are MANY different words for "bully." They have separate words for office bullies, schoolyard bullies, etc.
"Do you have a word for the bully in the family?" I asked. Stupid question. Of course they do!
Jealousy
Some of my adult students were getting tripped up over this word and I couldn't understand why.
One of the men said, "OK - I love Katya. But Katya loves Mike. So .... ?"
"You are jealous of Mike." I explained.
"OK," he went on. "I have a new car, a BMW. Mike has no car. So .....?"
"Mike is jealous of you," I responded.
The light went off on his face. Then he explained the problem - in Russian, they have TWO words for jealousy. One word is for people and the other word is for things.
We have only jealousy and envy, and they are both pretty much synonymous, and we use them for all situations.
I love the Russian language! How useful and RIGHT that they have two separate words!
The Problems
There are four main issues (that I've found so far) when teaching English:
1. There are no articles in the Russian language. They do not use "a," "an," or "the." So they either misuse them or just plain drop them in speech and writing.
2. There is no past continuous in the Russian language (this was confirmed by one of my high-level teenagers). So they can't quite grasp why it's so important, in some circumstances, to say, "I was watching television when the robbers arrived." "Why can't we just say "I watched television. The robbers arrived." Of course you CAN say it that way, but in some circumstances, it makes more sense to use the continuous. Russian students are not a fan.
3. Russian has no "th" or "w" sounds in their alphabet. So, "That thought" becomes "Zat zought." "Mouth" becomes "Mouse." "Wet" becomes "Vet."
4. They have no stress patterns or intonations. English goes up and down. Russian does not. It is a flat line.
For example, whenever we study intonation and stress in my upper-intermediate adult class, they always end up cracking up laughing. "It is against nature!" they say. "It feels like I am telling lies!"
- I explained the various ways you can say the word "Sure." You can indicate eagerness, boredom or exasperation.
- I explained the various ways you can say, "I'm sorry" to indicate sympathy, an apology, politeness, or rudeness.
- I explained the various ways you can say, "Hey." - the different ways you say "Hey" to colleagues, friends, and lovers.
- I explained the different ways to say "Fine."
They loved this one. If you say "How are you?" and someone says "Fine." in a very short, clipped, one-syllable way, they are clearly not fine. Russians say everything in a short, clipped manner.
They also had a very good time drawing out the "Hey" to indicate pleasure at seeing a lover, for instance. "Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" one guy said, and the whole class laughed.
Bully
For example, several weeks ago, one of my adult students asked for the definition of "bully." I explained it's a noun and verb used to describe when a person is picking on someone else, being mean to them.
"When do you use it?" they asked.
I explained you can use it in the office, in school - anywhere. "Office bully, schoolyard bully," I explained.
Ahhhh, they said. One of the students told me that in the Russian language there are MANY different words for "bully." They have separate words for office bullies, schoolyard bullies, etc.
"Do you have a word for the bully in the family?" I asked. Stupid question. Of course they do!
Jealousy
Some of my adult students were getting tripped up over this word and I couldn't understand why.
One of the men said, "OK - I love Katya. But Katya loves Mike. So .... ?"
"You are jealous of Mike." I explained.
"OK," he went on. "I have a new car, a BMW. Mike has no car. So .....?"
"Mike is jealous of you," I responded.
The light went off on his face. Then he explained the problem - in Russian, they have TWO words for jealousy. One word is for people and the other word is for things.
We have only jealousy and envy, and they are both pretty much synonymous, and we use them for all situations.
I love the Russian language! How useful and RIGHT that they have two separate words!
The Problems
There are four main issues (that I've found so far) when teaching English:
1. There are no articles in the Russian language. They do not use "a," "an," or "the." So they either misuse them or just plain drop them in speech and writing.
2. There is no past continuous in the Russian language (this was confirmed by one of my high-level teenagers). So they can't quite grasp why it's so important, in some circumstances, to say, "I was watching television when the robbers arrived." "Why can't we just say "I watched television. The robbers arrived." Of course you CAN say it that way, but in some circumstances, it makes more sense to use the continuous. Russian students are not a fan.
3. Russian has no "th" or "w" sounds in their alphabet. So, "That thought" becomes "Zat zought." "Mouth" becomes "Mouse." "Wet" becomes "Vet."
4. They have no stress patterns or intonations. English goes up and down. Russian does not. It is a flat line.
For example, whenever we study intonation and stress in my upper-intermediate adult class, they always end up cracking up laughing. "It is against nature!" they say. "It feels like I am telling lies!"
- I explained the various ways you can say the word "Sure." You can indicate eagerness, boredom or exasperation.
- I explained the various ways you can say, "I'm sorry" to indicate sympathy, an apology, politeness, or rudeness.
- I explained the various ways you can say, "Hey." - the different ways you say "Hey" to colleagues, friends, and lovers.
- I explained the different ways to say "Fine."
They loved this one. If you say "How are you?" and someone says "Fine." in a very short, clipped, one-syllable way, they are clearly not fine. Russians say everything in a short, clipped manner.
They also had a very good time drawing out the "Hey" to indicate pleasure at seeing a lover, for instance. "Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" one guy said, and the whole class laughed.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
We're Becoming Russian in My Russian Class
My Adult Students Get Worked Up
In my adult classes, I have noticed (it's hard not to) that some students get VERY worked up over exercises when we are in class. It's not just grammar that the students freak out over. They freak out when we do role-playing sometimes, too.
For example, in one class several weeks ago, I had one of my intermediate adult classes play "Cops and Robbers." This is a great game I learned in TESOL class for a free exercise on reported speech. It works like this - you tell the class about a fictional robbery that occurred after your last class ended. Half of the students are suspects (robbers). Half of the students are cops. The suspects need to work together to come up with a good alibi and get their stories straight. Then, the cops interrogate the suspects one-on-one, and then compare notes to see if they can find any discrepancies in the alibi.
In this one class, these two ladies got into a huge argument. In English, I was happy to say. One female "cop" said, "She said that they each paid for themselves at the cafe and that there were three receipts." And the "suspect" said, "No, I didn't! That's not what I said! I said we all had the same receipt!" They were NOT kidding around, by the way. The two ladies were both very worked up and one of them was visibly upset.
I just thought to myself: Wow, these guys are taking this WAY too seriously.
Sometimes, the students, in their fury, will start animatedly shouting in Russian. That's when I get annoyed. Say it in English, Say it in English - this has become my mantra in my classes.
The Americans Get Worked Up in Our Russian Class, Too
I (and about 5 other new teachers) have been taking beginner Russian classes. Most of us know absolutely ZERO except the very minimum of survival skills (where is the metro, please, thank you, I'm sorry)
Our teacher, Rita, is a really awesome teacher. I was shocked to find, on our first day, that she intended to teach us Russian the same way we teach our students English - complete immersion. No English in class. Rita is Russian and completely fluent in English, but she does not speak it to us in class and she does not accept English as answers. Most of us got that right away, and work hard to use only Russian in class.
How to we communicate with Rita? A LOT of hand and body gestures. A LOT of pictures/flashcards. It's freaking amazing. I heart the communicative method, but I never dreamed you could actually do it with true beginners who don't even know the alphabet.
She taught us the alphabet. We go over the alphabet in every class. We can quickly guess the meaning of what she's saying, although sometimes she has to say/do it over and over again until we get it. It's amazing!!! I love my Russian classes, look forward to them, even though they eat into my sleeping time twice a week.
After only 4 lessons (each lesson lasts about 2 hours), we know the alphabet, we know how to "read" (Russian is - thankfully!! - mostly phonetic, so we can say the word even if we can't understand what we're reading), and we can string together simple sentences.
Here's how the language sounds (I am not about to attempt to try to write this in Cryllic - it takes me FOREVER on the keyboard):
Zdratstvutye! Kak de la? Horosho, spasiba. Y tbya?
Shto eta? Eta doma. Eta tvaya doma? Dah, eta maya doma.
Kto on? On artist. Kak evo zavoot? Evo zavoot Vladimir.
Kak yeyo zavoot? Mayo zavoot Eve.
It's all very exciting.
So, during our last lesson, we learned some new vocabulary, and learned "his, hers and theirs." (We also learned "Here you go," and "There it is," but that's not important to the story.
Before the exercise, Rita taught us a few new words (including, most importantly, "dengi," which is money, and then gave us a worksheet in which we had to write in the blanks "his/hers/theirs." (pronounced: evo, eyo, eeh)
Here is the picture that was the subject of much controversy that afternoon!
As you can see, the picture was essentially divided in three. Each person (Vladimir on the left, Katya on the right) has their own stuff. They are husband and wife.
Then they have things BEHIND them that was pretty much "theirs" - like the house and the garden and the car.
But when I saw that there was a picture of money on Vladimir's side, I became very concerned.
We were are all busily filling out the blanks and then I saw "dengi."
"Rita, Rita!" I called to our teacher. She hurried over.
"Rita, dengi ne evo! Ne Vladimir! Eta eeh! Eeh dengi!" (It's not his money! It's theirs! Their money!"
She smiled and basically said (in Russian) "Yes, of course it's their money, but this is just a photograph so don't freak out."
So I filled in the rest of the worksheet.
The next trouble was when we read our answers out loud in the class.
When it was my turn, I said, "Eyo telephone" ("It's her telephone" - telephone is pronounced almost the exact same way as in English.)
This one guy from the other side of the room broke out of Russian in indignation. "It's not hers, it's theirs!" he said, in English.
I argued back (in Russian). "Nyet, nyet, eta yeyo! Yeyo telephone! On photograh!" I held up the worksheet and pointed repeatedly to the picture of Katya to illustrate my point.
He was not swayed. He replied back (again, in English): "It's from the house! It's a land line! They have to share!"
Again, in Russian, I said, "Nyet! Nyet! Eta yeyo telephone!! Yeyo!!"
I don't know if Rita was amused or appalled but she quickly moved on to the next item.
It was only later that I realized what happened in that class was EXACTLY what would have happened in one of my classes, students getting all worked up over a simple worksheet.
The other guy and I parted very good-naturedly, however, after the class, and wished each other a good day.
I don't think my adult Russian students have any good will toward the people they argue with in class.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A Story About My Blog Comments and ESLCafe.com
The time has come for me to tell you the story about me and ESLCafe.com.
ESLCafe.com is the go-to place for people looking for information about teaching overseas. There are job postings, resources and a forum for teachers who live and teach in nearly every part of the world.
When I first began looking into teaching more than a year ago, I turned to ESLCafe.com to see which schools were hiring, what to expect, and so forth.
Wow, did I read a bunch of opinions!
The Russian forum for teachers is filled with venomous, disgruntled people. Whenever a new person (like myself) requested specific information on BKC, English First, or Language Link (these are the 3 big language schools in Moscow), we were told (quite rudely) to conduct a search on "McSchools." The disgruntled ex-pats have created this label for these 3 schools to indicate the low pay, high turnover rate, poor management and terrible wages. Nearly every single poster said, "Don't come to Russia for your first year of teaching! The weather is terrible! The schools are terrible! You will starve! You will live far, far away from the schools you teach at! Your apartment will be a hovel! You'll be fucked if you come here!"
As it turns out, most of this was complete bullshit.
However, at the time, I took them at their word. And so, during my last six months of living in L.A., I suffered. I saved thousands of dollars. I believed whole-heartedly that I would be very poor as a teacher here. I packed an electric heater, and tons of winter clothes. I prepared myself for a shitty apartment. I prepared myself for two-hour commutes.
I vowed that I would return to ESLCafe.com and post a true depiction of how things are today. Some of the negative posts on the forum came from people who had lived in Russia a few years ago, but fled to greener pastures.
So, after two weeks, I posted this to ESLCafe.com - The Truth About BKC-International House, Moscow.
It was a positive review. Salary - fine. Apartment - awesome. Commute - 30 minutes. Etc. The post was not meant to be a rebuttal to the disgruntled posters. Rather, it was meant to educate new teachers who may be afraid to come to Moscow because of all the dire warnings by the other posters.
And, wow, did I get some comments in return! I was accused of being:
- a liar
- a "plant" who was part of BKC administration
- being in the "honeymoon phase" which would soon pass
I soon grew tired of the back and forth, and have no plans to post ever again to that site.
But, the site has followed me.
Some pleasant people emailed me privately recently, to ask if my feelings about Moscow and BKC are still the same.
They are.
There is one thing that the people on ESLCafe were right about - I was in the honeymoon phase, and that did pass. I experienced two or three weeks of intense culture shock, homesickness, being overwhelmed by being a new teacher, etc.
But that, too, passed.
Today, I love my job. God, how I love it! I love being a teacher. I love preparing worksheets. I love going through the BKC libraries and finding exercises to copy for my students. I love researching teaching methods. I love the fact that I know the tenses now. I love to see the light of understanding fall over the faces of my students. I love how happy the children get when I give them stickers, or when we play a fun word game.
Don't get me wrong - I have bad days when I want to strangle my students. I have nightmare lessons when my kids are being naughty.
But for the most part - oh god, I love my new job and I love this new career I have chosen.
I still love Moscow - it is baffling and confusing, and some people mistake me for an undocumented worker and are rude to me. It takes a long time to find things, and some things are just so hard for a foreigner to comprehend. But 99% of the time, the people are LOVELY and helpful and bend over backwards to help me, the wayward foreigner.
I still love my employer. Hell yes, they've got problems! They're a corporation. There are admins who are beautiful, sweet, helpful people. Others, not so much. Sometimes, the Russian way of doing business is infuriating. But the people are so nice. The city is so beautiful. I live in a fairy tale city. The salary I am paid is MORE than enough to live on. (I have an upcoming situation that requires more money than I previously wrote about, and so I am going to have to dip into my savings. It is a personal thing that needs attention, and I will say no more about it.)
I got to be Facebook friends with one of the nice people who emailed me privately. We even Skyped a few times. I thought he was OK. He asked a lot of questions about BKC (he was thinking of applying next year) and I was at first happy to help.
But then he became very demanding. His questions grew more and more personal and complicated. Some of the questions he asked me could have very easily (and more efficiently) been answered by BKC administration.
He began sending me combative (my new favorite word) messages like this:
--- (In response to my work schedule): "4 till 10 is actually quite a long day. i would also be most certainly not interested in any overtime as a new teacher with a basic weekly schedule of 30 hours presence time at my place of work every week and excluding any prep time."
--- "i see theyre using a photo of some guy with a guitar in his hand to advertise the accommodation that teachers get. hey. let me tell u this for nothing. if i had to share an apartment with somebody who owned a musical instrument i would be in the nearst mental hospital within a week. would YOU fancy spending your evenings listen to some guy on his guitar thinking hes moscows answer to led zeppelin?!"
--- "another question please! you have your own room in the flat, right? can you lock this room and bring the key with you whenever you leave the flat?"
What the fuck? Is he really that paranoid that he wants a lock on his goddamn door? I responded that if he felt he needed a lock, he should request a new roommate.
I kinda stopped communicating with him after that. Too many ridiculous questions. A bit of negativity that made me uncomfortable.
Finally, about a week or so ago, he made a rude comment on Facebook status, after I made a status update about how happy I was to find some Mexican food in a supermarket here in Moscow. He told me that it was fattening and that I needed to watch my calories.
Uh, no. Actually, make that HELL NO.
I emailed him and told him to fuck off, I removed him from my Facebook, and I will not communicate with him further.
Another person (who sounds suspiciously like an ESLCafe-er) recently made a couple of comments to one of my posts. He told me that I should not be wasting my time writing for content mills, that I should instead start privately tutoring Russians. He criticized my one-on-ones with the students.
And then he left ANOTHER message telling me that " .... its charms will soon fade by the end of winter and when the stops of the Militia become more and more of a pain in the ass instead of writing fodder for stories and your blog) you'll soon understand why the prices are such. Don't let the impression of the poor Russian student fool you, these people have and are very willing to plonk down the cash in a heartbeat and BKC is not a cheap Cowboy school."
I don't mind being criticized, but I do mind it when the person doing the criticism has no idea what the fuck they're talking about.
And I didn't appreciate (what I perceived) as a very hostile, negative remark. I also didn't appreciate the fact that this anonymous poster believes that I am completely ignorant about how much private tutors make, and actually - there were quite a few negative comments that annoyed the hell out of me.
I have never deleted a comment on this blog before. I believe that everyone should have the right to criticize me. BUT - they should really understand the facts before they do so.
Fact: I'm a good teacher. Anonymous poster, you weren't there - you don't understand how well those one-on-ones worked.
Fact: I'm a person of color.
Fact: I am not a capitalist.
Fact: I love my job.
Fact: I can make as much money writing for Demand Studios for one hour as I can tutoring for one hour. How I choose to make my money is solely up to me. I welcome other ideas and considerations - but only if they are done in an appropriate, civil, polite manner.
I briefly considered changing my settings so that anonymous comments are no longer allowed - but I'm not going to do that, either.
Instead, I will follow the advice of a new teacher friend. He told me, "It's like they say: what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Their cruelty/stupidity/rudeness/abruptness/ridicule/criticism is something that you'll encounter rarely...they have to deal with themselves on a daily basis for as long as they live!"
Here are the things I want in life:
- I want to live a peaceful life.
- I want to be professionally challenged.
- I want friends with whom I can discuss deeply personal feelings.
- I want friends who feel comfortable speaking to me about their deeply personal feelings. I want them to know that I am an empathic, sympathetic person who understands the pain and obstacles and difficulties we experience in life.
- I want to help a certain part of my family that is currently struggling.
- I want to write what I want and when I want.
Here's what I don't want:
- I don't want to earn more money doing a job I hate. I would rather be poorer and happier than richer and unhappy.
- I don't want angry, rude or mean people in my life.
- I don't want my intelligence insulted.
- I don't want to be judged by what I look like, what I eat, how much I weigh, the color of my skin, what I wear or the problems I've faced and overcome in the past.
And so, dear readers - Most of you - almost ALL of you are friends, colleagues, new friends and acquaintances who may not agree with everything I say, but that's OK! I WANT people to write their opinions. If you think I'm full of shit, say it in a nice way.
For the small minority of readers who think I'm full of shit and who are rude, mean, hostile and belittling - fuck you. :)
ESLCafe.com is the go-to place for people looking for information about teaching overseas. There are job postings, resources and a forum for teachers who live and teach in nearly every part of the world.
When I first began looking into teaching more than a year ago, I turned to ESLCafe.com to see which schools were hiring, what to expect, and so forth.
Wow, did I read a bunch of opinions!
The Russian forum for teachers is filled with venomous, disgruntled people. Whenever a new person (like myself) requested specific information on BKC, English First, or Language Link (these are the 3 big language schools in Moscow), we were told (quite rudely) to conduct a search on "McSchools." The disgruntled ex-pats have created this label for these 3 schools to indicate the low pay, high turnover rate, poor management and terrible wages. Nearly every single poster said, "Don't come to Russia for your first year of teaching! The weather is terrible! The schools are terrible! You will starve! You will live far, far away from the schools you teach at! Your apartment will be a hovel! You'll be fucked if you come here!"
As it turns out, most of this was complete bullshit.
However, at the time, I took them at their word. And so, during my last six months of living in L.A., I suffered. I saved thousands of dollars. I believed whole-heartedly that I would be very poor as a teacher here. I packed an electric heater, and tons of winter clothes. I prepared myself for a shitty apartment. I prepared myself for two-hour commutes.
I vowed that I would return to ESLCafe.com and post a true depiction of how things are today. Some of the negative posts on the forum came from people who had lived in Russia a few years ago, but fled to greener pastures.
So, after two weeks, I posted this to ESLCafe.com - The Truth About BKC-International House, Moscow.
It was a positive review. Salary - fine. Apartment - awesome. Commute - 30 minutes. Etc. The post was not meant to be a rebuttal to the disgruntled posters. Rather, it was meant to educate new teachers who may be afraid to come to Moscow because of all the dire warnings by the other posters.
And, wow, did I get some comments in return! I was accused of being:
- a liar
- a "plant" who was part of BKC administration
- being in the "honeymoon phase" which would soon pass
I soon grew tired of the back and forth, and have no plans to post ever again to that site.
But, the site has followed me.
Some pleasant people emailed me privately recently, to ask if my feelings about Moscow and BKC are still the same.
They are.
There is one thing that the people on ESLCafe were right about - I was in the honeymoon phase, and that did pass. I experienced two or three weeks of intense culture shock, homesickness, being overwhelmed by being a new teacher, etc.
But that, too, passed.
Today, I love my job. God, how I love it! I love being a teacher. I love preparing worksheets. I love going through the BKC libraries and finding exercises to copy for my students. I love researching teaching methods. I love the fact that I know the tenses now. I love to see the light of understanding fall over the faces of my students. I love how happy the children get when I give them stickers, or when we play a fun word game.
Don't get me wrong - I have bad days when I want to strangle my students. I have nightmare lessons when my kids are being naughty.
But for the most part - oh god, I love my new job and I love this new career I have chosen.
I still love Moscow - it is baffling and confusing, and some people mistake me for an undocumented worker and are rude to me. It takes a long time to find things, and some things are just so hard for a foreigner to comprehend. But 99% of the time, the people are LOVELY and helpful and bend over backwards to help me, the wayward foreigner.
I still love my employer. Hell yes, they've got problems! They're a corporation. There are admins who are beautiful, sweet, helpful people. Others, not so much. Sometimes, the Russian way of doing business is infuriating. But the people are so nice. The city is so beautiful. I live in a fairy tale city. The salary I am paid is MORE than enough to live on. (I have an upcoming situation that requires more money than I previously wrote about, and so I am going to have to dip into my savings. It is a personal thing that needs attention, and I will say no more about it.)
I got to be Facebook friends with one of the nice people who emailed me privately. We even Skyped a few times. I thought he was OK. He asked a lot of questions about BKC (he was thinking of applying next year) and I was at first happy to help.
But then he became very demanding. His questions grew more and more personal and complicated. Some of the questions he asked me could have very easily (and more efficiently) been answered by BKC administration.
He began sending me combative (my new favorite word) messages like this:
--- (In response to my work schedule): "4 till 10 is actually quite a long day. i would also be most certainly not interested in any overtime as a new teacher with a basic weekly schedule of 30 hours presence time at my place of work every week and excluding any prep time."
--- "i see theyre using a photo of some guy with a guitar in his hand to advertise the accommodation that teachers get. hey. let me tell u this for nothing. if i had to share an apartment with somebody who owned a musical instrument i would be in the nearst mental hospital within a week. would YOU fancy spending your evenings listen to some guy on his guitar thinking hes moscows answer to led zeppelin?!"
--- "another question please! you have your own room in the flat, right? can you lock this room and bring the key with you whenever you leave the flat?"
What the fuck? Is he really that paranoid that he wants a lock on his goddamn door? I responded that if he felt he needed a lock, he should request a new roommate.
I kinda stopped communicating with him after that. Too many ridiculous questions. A bit of negativity that made me uncomfortable.
Finally, about a week or so ago, he made a rude comment on Facebook status, after I made a status update about how happy I was to find some Mexican food in a supermarket here in Moscow. He told me that it was fattening and that I needed to watch my calories.
Uh, no. Actually, make that HELL NO.
I emailed him and told him to fuck off, I removed him from my Facebook, and I will not communicate with him further.
Another person (who sounds suspiciously like an ESLCafe-er) recently made a couple of comments to one of my posts. He told me that I should not be wasting my time writing for content mills, that I should instead start privately tutoring Russians. He criticized my one-on-ones with the students.
And then he left ANOTHER message telling me that " .... its charms will soon fade by the end of winter and when the stops of the Militia become more and more of a pain in the ass instead of writing fodder for stories and your blog) you'll soon understand why the prices are such. Don't let the impression of the poor Russian student fool you, these people have and are very willing to plonk down the cash in a heartbeat and BKC is not a cheap Cowboy school."
I don't mind being criticized, but I do mind it when the person doing the criticism has no idea what the fuck they're talking about.
And I didn't appreciate (what I perceived) as a very hostile, negative remark. I also didn't appreciate the fact that this anonymous poster believes that I am completely ignorant about how much private tutors make, and actually - there were quite a few negative comments that annoyed the hell out of me.
I have never deleted a comment on this blog before. I believe that everyone should have the right to criticize me. BUT - they should really understand the facts before they do so.
Fact: I'm a good teacher. Anonymous poster, you weren't there - you don't understand how well those one-on-ones worked.
Fact: I'm a person of color.
Fact: I am not a capitalist.
Fact: I love my job.
Fact: I can make as much money writing for Demand Studios for one hour as I can tutoring for one hour. How I choose to make my money is solely up to me. I welcome other ideas and considerations - but only if they are done in an appropriate, civil, polite manner.
I briefly considered changing my settings so that anonymous comments are no longer allowed - but I'm not going to do that, either.
Instead, I will follow the advice of a new teacher friend. He told me, "It's like they say: what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Their cruelty/stupidity/rudeness/abruptness/ridicule/criticism is something that you'll encounter rarely...they have to deal with themselves on a daily basis for as long as they live!"
Here are the things I want in life:
- I want to live a peaceful life.
- I want to be professionally challenged.
- I want friends with whom I can discuss deeply personal feelings.
- I want friends who feel comfortable speaking to me about their deeply personal feelings. I want them to know that I am an empathic, sympathetic person who understands the pain and obstacles and difficulties we experience in life.
- I want to help a certain part of my family that is currently struggling.
- I want to write what I want and when I want.
Here's what I don't want:
- I don't want to earn more money doing a job I hate. I would rather be poorer and happier than richer and unhappy.
- I don't want angry, rude or mean people in my life.
- I don't want my intelligence insulted.
- I don't want to be judged by what I look like, what I eat, how much I weigh, the color of my skin, what I wear or the problems I've faced and overcome in the past.
And so, dear readers - Most of you - almost ALL of you are friends, colleagues, new friends and acquaintances who may not agree with everything I say, but that's OK! I WANT people to write their opinions. If you think I'm full of shit, say it in a nice way.
For the small minority of readers who think I'm full of shit and who are rude, mean, hostile and belittling - fuck you. :)
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