On Saturday my Upper-Intermediate students came to class and said to me, “Yesterday was the day of the marmot.” “Marmot?” I asked. Marmot? What are they trying to say? “In America,” they said, “it was the day of the marmot.” My mind raced to come up with any English words that might have a similar pronunciation. Many times students use words they’ve looked up in the dictionary or read in a book, and I don’t recognize them right away because they’re mispronounced. When this happens, my mind immediately kicks into fast gear as I try to think of the word as quickly as I can, to limit their humiliation because of my lack of understanding. And then it clicked. Somewhere in the back of my head (probably thanks to PBS’s Kratts’ Kreatures) appeared a picture of a marmot. A groundhog! Yes! It was Groundhog’s Day yesterday! They weren’t mispronouncing anything, their dictionary had just given them a strange translation. Or probably an official one, as opposed to the word “groundhog.” After I finally figured it out, there were smiles all around. We discussed the strange nature of the American groundhog’s role on February 2, and continued with the lesson.
Such scenarios take place almost every class period, and I’ve realized that I’m especially enjoying my students this semester. They’re interesting people, and highly motivated to learn and speak English. And while I’ve enjoyed my students since the beginning of my time here, this semester I’m finally feeling like a real teacher who knows the material backward and forward. Now, after two years of teaching it over and over again, I finally feel like I’ve learned it myself. No wonder it takes students so long to get it all straight.
English grammar does not come easy to a native speaker. We know what sounds right, but not the reason why. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I could tell you what’s right and wrong, but when asked to explain why, I was found buried in the “Grammar Reference” section at the back of the textbook. And students here want and need to know why, because they don’t just learn how to speak English from hearing it spoken by others around them. Not in Donetsk, Ukraine. So, with the help of my fellow teachers, and after reading over it time and again, I’m weaning myself from the Grammar Reference. It’s a good feeling.
The sign that this was all coming together for me came when I realized that as I spoke English at certain times, I would think of the rule for why I used that verb tense at that particular time. i.e., “Oh, I used the past perfect tense there, because the one action happened before another action in the past.” Or “That’s an example of first conditional.” Yikes. These thought patterns brought me to the realization that my fate as an English nerd was forever sealed. I guess that’s not a big surprise anyway. I don’t mind as long as I’m becoming a more competent teacher.
Laura
