Life is harder when we focus on ourselves
Our challenges, our unexpected difficulties

I now have the challenge of teaching English
To adult students who speak almost NO English

At first, I was frustrated
A bit in disbelief that there are still people
With almost no knowledge of English

I thought I didn’t have the patience
To teach this group
And found the material I taught
Mundane and boring

Brother, sister, son, daughter
All new words for this group of eager students
It was something else trying to explain the verb ‘to need’
As in I need some milk

Then suddenly a light bulb turned on in my head
I started seeing things from my students’ point of view
They are at the beginning of an adventure
Learning a new language
And each day, they double and triple
What they used to know

They try hard
They help each other
And they come to class with smiles on their faces
And a sense of mission

Looking at it this way
What I did became more meaningful to me
Yes, we talk about very simple things:
I like ice cream, I don’t like hot dogs
But these are words that were not
In their vocabulary until now
They will be able to communicate
In a new language soon

Last time we met,
I taught them ‘have a good weekend’
And with that we said goodbye
Teachers keep learning too
No matter how many years they have taught

September 16th, 2016