I have been an ESL teacher for nearly three years now and I really like what I do. Most of my experience in the front of the classroom has been in private language schools in the Russian Federation but for the past four months I have had a wonderful experience, opportunity even, to teach English to a wide variety of international students in my new home city of San Diego.
The time I spent in Russia had a profound effect on my life. Aside from the obvious – my fiancee is from there – I learned to appreciate my country in a new and special way. It’s a lesson that can only be truly appreciated by those who have lived in another country and experienced life without that which we take for granted in this country from practical things like a washer and dryer to basic services like potable water from the tap.
No, I don’t mean to paint a bleak picture of life in Russia. I am proud of and cherish the time I spent living, working and studying there throughout my early to mid-twenties but sometimes it’s just difficult to appreciate what you have until you don’t have it. For sure, one of the proudest moments of my life was landing at JFK International Airport, home to stay, with my fiancee at my side.
I would have to say that my current position as an ESL teacher at a prominent English school in San Diego is the best experience I’ve had in teaching English. Not only do I have the gift of great support from both the academic and administrative staff on campus, I am thrilled to be exposed to so many students from a vast collection of cultures and even subcultures from within one country. In an unexpected twist, although my students come to my class to learn something from me, I also learn something them from almost every day.
I am a bit ashamed to say that a younger version of myself allowed certain news corporations to implant various stereotypes into my mind and to paint the world for me. Traveling and living in Russia allowed me, to a great extent, to repaint that part of the world with my own eyes but until I started teaching in a school with students of different nationalities, as I am now doing in San Diego, many of those stereotypes and misconceptions about other regions of the world remained. I am thrilled to have since had the opportunity to get to know, share life experiences and develop relationships with students from virtually every corner of the world.
One thing that stands out is the significant shift in my perspective about the Middle East. An earlier version of myself never planned to visit those lands because the first thing he associated with those countries and people was terrorism and bombs. And maybe camels.
Ignorant? Certainly, yes. Common misconception? Unfortunately, yes.
Now, I look forward to visiting the Middle East. Maybe I’ll go to Saudi Arabia and meet one of my former students at his home where his family will barbecue a whole sheep in my honor – a Saudi tradition when welcoming friends from afar – and while there I can make my way to the Arabian Gulf. But you most likely won’t find this on the map – your map will call this the Persian Gulf. (It’s a frequent politically-charged discussion in our classroom.)
So perhaps the best thing about being an ESL teacher is what you learn from your students in the process of teaching them your language. It has changed me from an ethnocentric imperialist to a more worldly and accepting person. It even had an indirect role in my change of heart on the issue of same-sex marriage. I encourage anyone considering this adventure to pursue it and to give yourself a couple of years to fully dive in.
