How I become an English teacher
By: Katherine Cortes Alarcon
I was born in Neiva and I have lived in this city all my life. I come from a loving and humble family that I value as my most precious blessing. We are six: my grandmother, my brothers, my parents and me. I remember that most of the time money lacked at home but it didn't matter because I grow up as a happy little girl. I am the only one of the three of us (my two brothers and me), who had the opportunity to study at the university because my father paid for my studies, situation that caused the jealousy of my younger brother who sometimes complained about that.
I have done my academic life in public institutions and I have good memories of those days when I was just a little girl. I remember the first time I received an English class. I was in fifth grade and in previous years I had never been taught English. My first English teacher was my math teacher. He was a funny man who all the time made jokes. He was also good in politics. When he started to greet us in English the first day of English class I felt astonished. It was for me really admirable to have the ability to communicate in another language, it was for me like a special skill that my math teacher had. I remember perfectly a phrase he used to use in English: "The time is gold". That was the first thing I learnt to say and write in English. The second thing I learnt to write, was a sentence made by myself: "Eduardo (that was the name of my teacher) is good teacher". I wrote on the board the phrase and my teacher correct the lack of "a" after "is". He said "Eduardo is a good teacher". At that moment I couldn't comprehend why I had to use "a" in the sentence. That was my first encounter with a different language.
In high school I received English classes in a formal way. I remember each one of my English teachers. All of them were women. I felt the same admiration of the first time every time they spoke in English. I remember the songs they used to teach English and the activities they applied in the classes. I also remember a student from Surcolombiana University who made her teaching practice in my school and she was my English teacher in seventh grade. I remember that in that year it was the first time the school carried out an English Day. My grade presented a song of the Backstreet Boys, so five boys dressed up like the boys of the group, they learnt the song and made a choreography. they also had to present a kind of talk show where they answered some questions. I remember I was one of the models of the show. I really enjoy that activity, it was amazing how students and teachers spoke in English and I have to say that I fall in love with English at that precise moment.
Going forward, in tenth and eleventh grade, I had an English teacher that made I loved English even more. She was a really kind woman, I always remember her as a calm person. My classmates and I enjoyed English so much with her that we all behaved in a really good way. We respected and loved her, we paid attention, we did homework and we participated actively during her classes. I remember two of her lessons. One in which she used a song of Carlos Vives, "Carito", and we had to translate the part of the song that is in English, and another song of Greenday called Wake me up when september ends, we had to choose one phrase of the song and translate it to spanish. The second activity I remember was about the use of Used to to talk about past habits. For that class we had to brought to the class some pictures about us when we were little children. We stuck the pictures on
cardboard and wrote sentences using Used to according to them. I really enjoyed this activity because my classmates and me shared the pictures and saw how we were when we were babies.This teacher was the person who pushed me to becoming an English teacher.
When I started the University I had very clear that I wanted to be an English Teacher. At the beginning it was hard for me to follow the classes because they were entirely in English and I couldn't understand what the teacher said, so I had to ask one of my partners what the teacher was saying. I have to recognize that I considered myself as a not good English skilled person, It was hard for me to speak in English, to make oral presentations was a really challenging task for me. Moreover, sometimes I didn't obtain good grades in written exams but I never gave it up. I always tried to do my best in order to reach my goal.
When I did my teaching practice in high school level, I decided to do it in the school where I had studied. Teachers there brought me a lot of support and they saw me as an example for the students. It was a good experience to work in this place. On the contrary, when I did my teaching practice in primary level, things didn't work as well as I expected. I had some missunderstandings with my practice advisor, so it was the first time I thought to give it up, but then I realized that it was not a very good idea and I continued. The score of the teaching practice was not high but it didn't matter to me.
I remember also the Native Speakers students who made part of Interchange programs and that supported the teaching and learning of English at the University. They were young people that sometimes had meetings with us in order to teach aspects such as pronunication or culture. At the begining of the meetings it was difficult for me to follow them, but then I understood what they said. I thought those interactions with native speakers were enriching but I was not able to speak with them outside the classroom. I felt shy to do it.
When I finished my undergraduate carreer, I started working for around three years in private schools with primary and high school students. This was an enriching experience because I acquired practice in teaching and in group management. Then I started to work in the Public sector and it was a challenge for me because I didn't know anything about teaching to tenth and eleventh graders neither how to deal with public institutions regulations. But fortunately, I lived good experiences without problems in this settings.
Finally, after all this tour about my experience with the English language I can say that I really like what I do, that I love English and being an English teacher and that I feel satisfied of what I have reached because I took advantage of the opportunity my father gave me to study a professional carreer and also because as a woman I did the things right, I prepared myself for being a professional person despite the monetary limitations my family had. I demosntrated myself and others that we are what we want to be. I am also satisfied with the decision I took and with the things I have achieved because they are the result of dedication, effort and believe in myself.
