Okay okay, here I am with more thoughts about ESL/TESOL/English!
I guess that I want to share why the first thing that came to my mind is humility.
In the past year, I have had the most international exposure in my life to date. I've started volunteering with a local ESL program for adults (even once teaching my own two-ish hour class, which was something else
) and I've joined this fandom, the most visibly international one of which I've ever been a part. And something has occurred to me throughout both of these experiences: having English as my first language is a massive privilege.
Not to say that English is inherently better than any other language--that is the furthest from my intentions in writing this. But, when one of the most widely used and influential languages in international discourse, media, entertainment and online communities is
your native language, there are some benefits inherent in that.
The language in which I am most comfortable expressing myself, in consuming entertainment, in relating to others and understanding their thoughts also happens to be a pretty influential language. But
not everyone has that.
And being a native speaker isn't everything.In this fandom, I have encountered some of the most truly eloquent people in my life; you all have shown me incredibly beautiful things about the world in which we live; you have described things in ways which speak to my heart so deeply, it seems that you've peered into my very brain; you've painted pictures with words more beautiful than I could ever hope to attempt myself; and so, so many of you do not speak English as a first language.
And so, in speaking about language, I am massively humbled. English is my first language--for me, second language acquisition is not a necessity. I could float through my life comfortably and never learn another language because I live in a society which has afforded me this. I would be ill-advised to do so, and I would miss out on
a lot that this world has to offer by being a monolingual Anglophone, but I could most definitely do it. And many people do not live their lives in this way.
So many of you have shared your thoughts with me and explained linguistics to me (thanks
ryagami and
Hrollo) and had patience with my French--whether you've meant to or not, you have taught me how little I really know. And understanding the difficulty inherent in learning just one other language (let alone how many of you are avid polyglots) has taught me so much how I have to remember my place in the language-learning community.
In helping a group of people (I'm not sure which age group you'll be with,
Juniper, but I've only worked with adults in ESL) to learn a new framework for expressing themselves while using that very framework, it is important to remember that English is just another way to share ideas. It isn't necessarily the best (I don't really think that there
is a best language, just different languages) and it isn't necessarily the easiest (English makes no sense sometimes), but it is just another means of communication.
One thing that helps me a lot in ESL (and in the humility which I feel has to come along with it [man, I'll really be eating my words if you've already realized and put into practice all of this rambly nonsense that I'm writing right now]) is to imagine those with whom I speak complexly. This scene has helped me immensely:
I think that it speaks to the English-speaking corner of the internet in which I live that when I tried to find this scene on YouTube, all that I could find were compilations of the character Gloria's best pronunciation mistakes.
Juniper, you might not have come into ESL with any of the same expectations or beliefs that I did (and you're already certified if you're going to be teaching in Korea, so you're definitely a few steps ahead of me on this journey). But humility, in any language-learning or language-teaching experience, seems to be a good way to go. Much love to you on your continued journey in the world of teaching English!
