My eyes were closed, they’re open now.
-Damien Rice-The Connoissuer of Great Excuse
If you were to dip into the pensieve[1] of
your career is there a moment your eyes
previously blind to the reality of or need for ESL education first opened and
saw the vastness, immediacy, and urgency of those learning English around the
world?
For me, I was descending the perilous stairs of Songnae[2]
station with two years worth of belongings in two suitcases. My first foray
into English education was as a missionary for my church[3] in
South Korea. As I was traveling from our
mission headquarters to the first area that I had been assigned to, my new
companion was describing our day to day: our schedule consisted of individual
and family English study appointments, English classes at the local church,
service English courses at the local city office and 등등등. I even prepped someone to
become a flight attendant.[4]
Mid point in our descent, needing to catch my breath, I
interrupted him and asked:
Why in the world are all of these people learning English?”
Previous to my time in Korea, I guess at some level I conceptually understood
that just like students in my high school would study German, French, or
Spanish that students in other countries would add English to their list of
elective language courses. But that it would be a point of such investment for
people of all situations and stages was surprising to say the least.
Storm’s[5] response
was simple. “It matters to them.”
Because it mattered to them is why it mattered to us and why
it continues to matter to me. My contact with people through the exchange of
interactions centered on English language learning has honestly been
life-altering. Even though I now get
paid more for my contributions to people’s education,[6]
what I have received in intangibles has always been the best part of the job.
Korea showed me the good that could come from English
education both for the student and for the teacher; it also helped me see that
I was good at it and that has been a pretty hard combination to quit.
What about you? When were your ESL eyes opened? We’d love to
hear your side of this story.
[2] Where
Seoul meets Incheon.
[5] Was
really his given name and by given I mean by the press chronicling his highschool football stardom. It stuck. I think even his mother called him Storm.
[6] Which
doesn’t say much as I didn’t get paid as a missionary; actually I was paying
for the pleasure of giving free English classes. An exchange which was
perfectly equitable in retrospect.
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