Experiences of a teacher of English

Students have many school subjects to learn. And there’s a possible problem to learn those subjects as something too much separated to one another subject. This is, in other words, there’s a possible problem of a stressed specialization.  So teachers should study and form in Humanities. In that way they will be able to offer more common stuff: all subjects joined by a particular concept of person. / Photo from: mvreduction com

Each culture can be compared with ours for example, in order to learn more, both from us and from the people of another country or state.  Spanish scholar Antonio Barnés has written that each period of the past can also be compared to ours, for example some past century, and then we’ll be able to understand us ourselves better, to interpret present better, to associate epochs, even to change something of our very lives.  Barnés has written this in his book which is a panegyric of the paper book, in relation with e-books.  We teachers of languages can implement this activity in our classes: comparing periods of history after reading a text or a book or a handbook of history. / Photo from: web educastur princast es. The Reader, by Renoir

Some people ask me why my English is American, while in Spain the British variety is well seen, and the American English is considered as not English, by many people, more or less.  Well, I will let you know tomorrow about this point.  Or better said, why not right now?  Look, I’ve trained and coached mostly American university students who have come to Spain to teach English in summer or in winter. 95% of the youngsters I’ve trained are from the USA, and that’s it.  Thus I feel better with American English, I do not discard British English though. I studied my degree in British English, here in Spain, namely Philology of English. / Photo from: US flag in the classroom of a Christmas Story 1983

Pragmatics is a rather new area of linguistics: it treats cases like jokes in the native language, which sound disgusting, or in a learner of a foreign language, alike can sound disgusting and impolite.  Bad words (four-letter words in English) said by a non-native speaker sound worse too.  And we should be polite and nice, shouldn’t we? / Photo from: clubgetaway com. skiing

How to remember other people’s names?  The people that you’re interested on are more likely to remember.  When somebody introduces you somebody else, you will remember his or her name if that person starts to concern you; I mean, in other words, I would advise you: try to make an effort in getting to know the people that are introduced to you, and you'll remember their names. / Photo from: raining_in_edinburgh_by_estruda-d4grhcj  estruda deviantart com

Pragmatics. This area of knowledge and performance teaches us for example that the same expression or an equivalent one can mean diverse things.  For example in Spanish I can say “¡Dios mío!” and means to turn to God for help.  However in English it is better not to say that expression, inasmuch as I know, and some people say “Oh, my!” and that’s it. A professor who works in London told me about this.  There’re other similar expressions in Spanish and English.  For instance, in Spanish it’s a bad and wrong word to refer to the Eucharist (God hidden in something that looks like bread, after the priest’s formula in the Holy Mass), by using a synonym of Eucharist, “Hostia”. / Photo from: group people talking in cafe. www handsonsuperhealth com au

Communication is just essential within marriage. Even more if he’s Spanish for example and she’s Japanese, which is a real case I know.  Pragmatics studies are important in such marriages or during engagement. The way of saying messages has to be taken into account.  In this latter case, engagement, communication is pretty important, in order to get to know the other person, who maybe will be my wife, or my husband, and so my mom’s or my dad’s children.  She or he will be the person who I’ll share my life with. My projects, professional ones for example, will be OUR projects.  In the case of marriage she and he have to win and captivate the other person. The passing of years has to be appreciated: she (and he) has to look attractive in everyday conducting, also at home, where a negative relaxation could come to appear and look tedious. I know an old marriage which goes along the street by holding hands. / Photo from: a large family. simplyaddcoffee com ...

Something I miss is a more ample knowledge of the pragmatics of English.  I mean, you know, that I say something, but I don’t know how it sounds to native-English people.  Phrasal verbs for example are changing their meaning sometimes, or they're gaining a new meaning. / Photo from: www baylor edu

Pragmatics is a rather new area of knowledge and practice that is pretty important.  What a person says can be rude for another person of another language.  An example of pragmatics. A marriage of a German guy and a Japanese woman. They’re in their car going to somewhere. And the lady, instead of saying “We should stop and buy some sandwiches”, she says “Could we feel hungry sometime, darling, you think?”.  That is pragmatics.  Another example: a French lady says “It’s very cold here”, instead of “Do you all mind me closing the window?” / Photo from: newsimage idw-online de

More interesting things from H. D. Brown.  not all of this sort of stereotyping is bad.  We get some of our notions from legitimate cultural characteristics, and we need to be aware of those characteristics.  We need to understand that the French really are different from Americans in important ways – and we’d better understand those differences before we do business with them or invite them to our homes for dinner . (page 66 in Brown’s book - indentations are of mine) / Photo from: www allartnews com. ivan kramskoy painting a portrait of his daughter  

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “One way of making the students communicate in the target language has to do with the functional methodology. The teacher has to provoke saying something in English, the target language. The teacher describes in the first language a situation, a realistic one, where the student has to use English to communicate about what this latter one needs, or wishes, or demands, protests, shows gratitude, just says a statement, etc. For example, ‘María, ¿cómo expresarías en inglés la necesidad de que tienes que cambiar los pañales al bebé, en el aeropuerto?’, which is ‘María, how would you show the necessity you have to change your baby’s diaper?’. And t he student could say, ‘Excuse me sir, where can I change my baby’s diaper?’ Like you see, I used translation: sometimes it is necessary and helpful, but use it not too much.” / Photo from: chagrinvalley times com. By Joan Demirjian us. police officer on duty

One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “I totally agree: our students must develop critical sense, a critical eye, when facing up with written texts in any coursebook. I reckon it’s clearer when you think of ads and tv spots: I cannot admit to compulsively shop all what they’re saying is good for me, a young man, or a young woman. As well, I would insist on developing, whilst the years are passing, that the student should have critical sense when reading history texts, the papers, political speeches and slogans... A colleague of ours last day told me she tried her students gain all this through commentaries on texts, like novels, papers, emotional magazines, and other things. Basically she just helped her teens think – that’s it: think! Think on the basis of experience, one’s biography, discourse thinking, contrasting, previous knowledge, knowledge of life, processing of thought, other students’ opinions. In few words: the point is we educators (their...

One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “An advanced learner, even a proficient one, will continue speaking with words and expressions that are not the ordinary ones of a native speaker. I have seen it. He or she has to carry on a lifelong learning, although not less exciting: they are learning new things, new words, targeting a native speaker! This is a special moment, when the learner has to utilize very personal learning strategies, like using the dictionary, consulting an online dictionary while typing a text, focusing and noticing a native’s ways of saying, realizing that what he usually says is a Spanish translation of certain word or phrase. Everyday we can hear foreigners who use words from their language, and which we don’t say in our L1. More strategies? Reading, talking with native speakers, listening to a radio station in the Internet, contributing to a web forum and reading from other people...” / Photo from: granadatourist com. This is a photo of the pi...

One day teacher of English A said to teacher of English B, “Pragmatics is a relatively new area in learning languages. And it’s so important. There remains a lot to study and develop. Look. We can have the language, we can master it, right, but learners of English have to be tactful when speaking with speakers of other languages. Imagine a marriage, he speaks English and she too; the first is Spanish and she is Japanese. They understand each other in English. The Spanish guy must be very tactful and delicate with his wife. The guy might be very direct when saying something; it’s usual speakers of Spanish (or Castilian) from the continent of America say we Spaniards look like we were mad (angry) when speaking; people in Spanish-speaking America talk like sweeter and with a finely molded-intonation language. The Spanish from Spain, often, sounds like it be chiseled and hard. So, in the Japanese lady’s case, she can suggest something delicate and not going direct to the point, and her hus...