My experience as a
foreign language teacher
Since I was a little
girl I was taught the importance of learning a foreign language. A remarkable
person in my life is my aunt. She was forced to study laws by my grandparents
but her desire was to be an English teacher. She helped me a lot in the process
of learning English and she was always willing to teach me every time I needed
it. She loved English and I loved her passion and the excitement she transmitted.
She really had an impact on my way of thinking. She made me love English too. I
was fortunate to attend a well-regarded elementary school in which I had my
first encounter with English and it was enchanting and overwhelming at the same
time. My teacher was a pure knowledge transmitter and the classes were very
traditional.
During the years I
spent in high school, I went through some changes in my life. My parents
decided to send me to a public school because my sister was born and they could
not afford a private one anymore. New school, new friends, new teachers, new
experiences came and I was frightened. Over the years, I became more
responsible and autonomous for my own learning. By that time, my cousin who is
an English teacher graduated from Universidad Surcolombiana was doing her
master degree abroad. She left behind some books and novels at grandma’s house
so that I could take advantage of them. My curiosity and my willingness to
learn English leads me to start reading those books and novels. I still
remember the first time I read an English book. It was a short story called Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I found it captivating and engaging.
Luckily, in tenth
grade I met a teacher who was more aware about the necessity of communicating
in English. I admired her because of her dynamism, enthusiasm and commitment in
most of the English classes. She was always concerned about teaching her students how
to communicate and providing them different contexts to practice communicative
functions. It was the first time I had a teacher like her. I definitely loved
English but it was certain that I did not want to be a teacher.
Six
years passed on, and I took a decision. I wanted to be a dentist. Unfortunately, my dream did not come
true. That career was offered by private institutions and my parents could not
support me at that time. I was devastated by the way and it was difficult to
comprehend. After overcoming that situation, I finally applied to be part of
the English language Program at Universidad Surcolombiana. Some doors were
closed for me but new opportunities arose. I learnt and I got the most out of
those years of constant learning. I got my first job as an English teacher when
I was in fifth semester. Since that traumatic but rewarding experience, I
realized that I had the vocation to be a teacher.
Obtaining a
degree in teacher education was just the beginning, I was just taught to begin
teaching but during the years I have been immersed in significant teaching
practices. I will mainly
emphasize on the word experience with reference to the process I have gone
through to become the teacher I am. Those practices have directly shaped my conceptions, my perceptions, my thoughts and my ideologies about the
educational performance played by teachers. Each job has contributed to
my professional development.
Currently, I am
studying a Master Degree at Universidad Surcolombiana. I am immersed
in an ongoing process of discovering myself as a professional and reshaping my
methodology based on my experiences in teaching.
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