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A Glimpse Into Teaching English
I’m aware that in order to draw and retain readers to my blog I must be consistent in updating with fun, exciting, and sometimes startling entries. Since I’ve been lacking in the “consistency” aspect this month, I’ll be trying my best to make it up to you with “quality and quantity” in my posts today.
Here goes:
I teach in 2 hour blocks. In case you’re wondering, teaching ESL for 2 hours is like a mixture between a circus, a gym, a stint on Broadway, and a constant little game I’d like to call “How many different ways can I say this word or phrase?”
Seriously. It takes A LOT of energy to teach a group of 20 year olds English. I use a ton of gestures while in class. Sometimes I find myself flinging my arms around while I’m talking to my teammates, I guess I’m hoping it’ll help them understand my deteriorating English. Oh yea, my English is deteriorating. I’m starting to talk like my students. “Monica, can you me pass butter?” It’s not that bad, but a few more years here and things could get ugly.
Luckily, my ability to pronounce the “th” sound is still strong, probably because I drill my students daily on it. I was really sick of hearing, “Miss Bessssssany!” Something had to be done. My students are now scared of mispronouncing any word that contains a “th”. That’s my contribution to making the world a better place- one English speaking Chinese student at a time. You’re welcome.
If you have some free time or are bored at work, trying making up as many words as you can to describe “mimic”. Oh, and you can’t use a Thesaurus, that’s cheating, and cheating is a no-no in my class
If you’re extra daring, try flailing your arms while doing it; you’re now able to teach English as a second language