I never wanted to be a teacher, so I went on to study Economics. Fortunately, some friends needed help with their English, and asked me to teach them. I did it as a favour but then their friends also wanted classes, and by the time I graduated I had lots of students and I just loved being a teacher. That's when I decided to give up my "unstarted" career as an economist and become a full-time English teacher. I went back to university to study "Letras" (Portuguese, English and Literature), and I've already started a Master Programme in ESL.
But what about you? How did you start teaching English? How do you think your experience has effected the teacher you are now? We're looking forward to hearing your story!!!
20 comments:
Dear Angela. Your story is what had happened to lots of teachers. Engineers teaching math, surgeons teaching biology and so on. Now you are a teacher and going to be for the rest of your live because nobody gives up being a teacher.
Warm hugs from Venezuela, Horacio.
Dear Horacio,
Thanks for your sweet comment.
It's true: it is very, very hard to give up teaching. I know I would never do it.
Best regards,
Angela
Funny! I too didn't want to be a teacher, and now I can't think I could be anything else. I am a teacher at heart!
1st I wanted to be flight attendant to visit the world, then decided I should go into translation (especially literature) because I love to read, but also did a lot of technical translation study because there is more possibilities there.
After college joined the Navy thinking I would translate for NATO or something like that, to discover I had been sent to the Naval school, where after some training started to teach EFL to Navy staff. I never again thought about going into translation.
More about my story here: http://knowmansland.com/learningpath/?page_id=4 and here: http://knowmansland.com/learningpath/?page_id=11
;)
great post!
Hi Angela, our stories are quite similar! :-)
I graduated in Journalism and when jobs in the field were a bit hard to get, I decided to teach a few friends. Well, you know how the story ends! But I never went back to study 'Letras'. Instead, I did a post-graduation course in Education and Technology and now I'm finishing my master's degree in Applied Linguistics, with emphasis in Language and Technology.
I now realize that these three areas (Communications, Teaching and Technology) have more in common now than I would have guessed 20 or so years ago! :-)
Um abraço,
Mônica
I totally agree with Cristina. I can't picture myself in other job than teaching.
I started my career as a designer. I worked for a construction company. Later, my mother told me that I should take "Letras" (languages), because I had been learning English since I was 7. I did it. And I do not regret. I've been teaching English for more than 20 years now. I also taught gifted children for some time. I just love my job!
I liked this post of yours. It encourages people to reply!
Beijos!
Ana Maria
Hi Angela,
My story is a bit different…
Once upon a time there was a child who wanted to be a hair dresser, then a surgeon, then a flight attendant, then a cooker, then a vet, etc, etc, etc. By the time she was 10 she did an amazing trip to an African country and since then English became a part of her life. A few years later while watching a Brazilian soup opera she immediately fell in love with German, the mother tongue of a character in that soup opera. And that was it; she then wanted to know everything about English and German; so the quest began!
Even though being a teacher in Portugal is becoming rather difficult, I’ve never done anything else and honestly I couldn’t. I LOVE my job and I proudly consider myself a full time teacher!!!
xinhos, from Portugal
Hello to all of you,
Reading your stories made me so happy. It is wonderful to hear such similar stories and then a different and exciting one like Pat's. I hope more people will share with us.
Huge hugs for you,
Angela
Hi Angela,
I like your blog and the cartoons in it...My trail to teaching has also been "indirect"...Done loads of things, but finally I do think teaching is the thing for me..I like the chance to be creative with lots of people-contact.
Hi Angela!
This is interesting indeed: I started "teaching" English at 16 (coaching lessons to primary school learners), attended TTC and studied Accountancy at university at the same time 'coz I couldn't decide which I really preferred, taught more and more during those years... and by the time I graduated I was certain I really wanted to spend my life teaching and learning, was not interested in budgets and taxes (except for teaching Economics occasionally!) and it seemed I'd be able to make a living out of it... :-P
Soon I will have been teaching for 25 years, and I've never regretted my choice!
You're excellent at encouraging visitors to interact... Keep blogging!
Gladys
Oí, Angela.
I agree with what my good friend Horacio said in the very first post ("Your story is what happened to lots of teachers") and then continued, with many interesting variations, in the posts to follow.
I received an undergraduate degree in Music Education. I was most interested in music composition and musical arranging (particularly for choirs), but I needed a "paying" job, so I got a degree that would make it easy to become certified to teach in the public schools.
I loved the classes I took in the university and was a very active participant in many choral and instrumental groups; those four-plus years were a wonderful chapter in the book of my life.
When I started teaching, however, something unexpected happened: I found that even though I liked my students, fellow teachers, and the cities in which I worked, I DIDN'T LIKE teaching music! (I liked MAKING music, but I didn't like teaching it.) I first tried teaching choir and classroom music in high school. I then taught instrumental music in elementary school and middle school. I then began study in an MA program in Music. All of these proved to be "dead ends" for me and I thought I was simply not suited to be a teacher.
Finally, however, I realized that it was teaching MUSIC that was the problem, not simply teaching, and I entered graduate school again . . . this time, in English Literature and Composition. I liked my coursework very well and thought I would enjoy teaching at the high school or college level, but I had another surprise: my classmates and friends in the English Department (MA and PhD students) were unable to find jobs. At that point, I moved into another part of my life: teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language.
My move into ESL/EFL began as a happy accident. The university where I was studying (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale) had a thriving intensive ESL program and it also offered an MA in TEFL. That sounded interesting and I took several classes to see what TESL/TEFL was all about . . . and LOVED IT!
That all happened more than 35 years ago, and I've never been disappointed with my career in TESL. It has given me a life that has been very personally rewarding and also very rich in human experience.
Now I'm no longer teaching. I'm interested, however, in continuing to work collaboratively--preferably in an online setting that is international and intercultural.
Dennis in Phoenix
Oi Dennis,
Your story is so interesting . You have really been through many different roads until finally getting to be an English teacher. You have no idea how enriching it is for me to hear all these amazing life stories. It's like reading short biographies similar to mine.
Thank you so much for being a part of this wonderful experience.
All the best,
Angela
Hi, Angela, this is a great topic for a blog!
Just like you, Dennis or Cristina, I too didn't want to become a teacher. My story goes like this: i studied langauges in high school (english and french) because i wasn't - and still am not - really gifted in the sciences department (i compute my students' grades with a calculator). my math skill not having improved at all by the end of highschool, i followed up on my humanities studies with english major and french minor in university. i remember that while i was a student i used to tell my friends rather too emphatically: "Take a good look at me! I will never, NEVER, become a teacher."
They still make fun of me on that note.
But seriosuly now, in a country where holding down a job is tricky, I jumped at the first opportunity i got to teach at university. Three years later i was finally employed and here I am.
I love teaching, more often than not I like my students, but i am absolutely enamoured with the language!!
And yeah, I don't think i'd be much good at doing something else.
Cheers,
Andreea
Dear Angela,
In my opinion Horacio is quite right.I also never wanted to be teachers.I wanted to study international relations.However I had a chance to be student of TEFL.Even when I was a fresheman and sophomere,I wanted to change my department but in my third year I changed my minds because I really had fun when I was doing my teaching practicum.I really felt wonderful when I saw the sts' eyes were shining.Then it became an addiction I worked at many different language schools ,in different teaching contexts but I think I 'll never lose this enthusiasm.
Thanks for creating such a nice,reflective blog.
Best wishes
Beyza
Hello Angela,
I found your blog as I was checking our Participant´s blogs entries in Yahoo in order to subscribe to some of them. And surprise, surprise, you´re from Uberlandia too. Have we ever met? I´m Ana Maria and I teach at Cultura Inglesa Copacabana (UDI). LIke Carla A said, you have a talent to blog and this is a blog I´ll definitely subscribe to.
Well, concerning the question of how I began to teach... I was 15 and had just come back from a year in the States. I started teaching in order to be in contact with the language and like many of you, never quit the job. Now it´s what I´ve always dreamed of, I love what I do!
anamaria
http://lifefeast.blogspot.com
My new baby blog:
http://anamariamenezes.edublogs.org
Hi dear friend,
You know that my story isn't different from yours, I dind't have the intention to be a teacher, but after college I started to teach English just to keep practicing the language, when I realised I was doing that for some time.I came back to university to study "Letras" where I was so luck to meet people like you.
I agree with Horacio,nobody gives up being a teacher.
Hugs,
Luciana.
Dear Angela,
I love your blog, and of course I want to share my own story with you.
But first let me tell you I didn't know there was a place in Brazil called Uberlandia. It was a surprise for me because my older daughter's nickname is Uber (just a deformation from our surname which is Wierna and is pronounced 'ubierna') We laughed at the news and of course now my daughter says she owns a city in Brazil that carries her name. HAHAHAHA!
My story is not very different from others'. As a kid I wanted to be an astronaut and that is why I started my English classes when I was 7, of course I knew I had to live in USA. Soon as a teenager I found out that I had to study a lot to become an astronaut so I decided to be a lawyer but never gave up my classes as for that time I was already in love with English and was making some pocket money giving coaching classes to some friends. When I left school I got pregnant, got married and lived happily for a few years. But soon I felt I wanted more and started thinking what else to do. Well, I thought being an EFL teacher was a good option as I already knew the language and had some experience, so I started a teacher training.
Now, here I am. I opened my own private English Institute a few years ago and I can't imagine myself doing anything else but being a mother and a teacher.
I'm really very very happy with the career I chose, it gives me the possibility to be creative, interact with people of all ages and have the feeling I'm doing something to make their lives better.
Patricia (Pato) from Argentina
http://reflectingonweb20.blogspot.com/
Dear Patricia,
Thanks for sharing your story. It is always very nice read how people ended up being teachers. You had high dreams of becoming an astronaut, right? But as a teacher I'm sure you're happier because you can spend more time with your family and be in touch with more people. You don't have to live for months in a small spaceship.
Anyway, I truly loved the story of your daughter's nickname matching the name of my city. I had great laughs. Tell her she owns a reasonably large city (600.000 people) and I think she would be proud of her possession (it's a good city (hahahahaha).
Kisses for you and her,
Angela
My mother is a teacher of German. When I was a little girl, I decided I was never, ever going to be a teacher. I decided to study English language and literature, because it was easy. I don't like maths, you see. And I love reading. But I still wasn't going to be a teacher. No, I was going to translate great literature and write serious essays.
The first job I got was in the language school where I still teach. I was 22, now I am 41. I love my job. As Horacio says, nobody gives up being a teacher. My mother still gives private lessons at home. The non-teachers simply don't know what they are missing.
Thank you Angela for giving us all a chance to share our stories.
Hi Angela,
It's me again. Just to let you know I told my daughter about your city and she's delighted.
And you know what? I wanted to be an astronaut to reach the moon, but being a teacher I went beyond, be sure!
C U SOON
Patricia (Pato)
http://reflectingonweb20.blogspot.com/
Hi Angela,
I have had a wonderful time reading the stories of fellow teachers! Like you, I started out studying Economics believe it or not!
Even though I had always dreamed of becoming a French teacher, I decided to major in Economics/International Business and French. During my senior year, my French professor asked me if I would be interested in tutoring a couple students in the newly formed ESL Program, and I just knew that this was the field for me. It took me a few years before I went back to school to get my M.A. TESL, and I have loved every day of teaching: I have taught in community ESL programs, migrant education programs, and at the college and university level in both the U.S. and Japan. I wake up in the morning excited to get to work ;)
It is great to be in the company of the motivated educators in Blogging4Educators who seem to have the same passion for teaching.
Hugs from Japan,
MaryH
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