As an ESL teacher at the Spanish-American Institute in Manhattan I have had the privilege to teach students from more than 20 countries.
It is a gift to be able to speak in Portuguese, French, or Spanish with them while making their learning process comprehension easier. As Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.
As a non-native English teacher I sometimes have doubts on the English language structure or pronunciation and even in my own language I can be challenged because languages are organic, dynamic, always changing, evolving and in constant transformation just like our lives.
It is a life-long learning process to be a teacher. However, I understood what makes me a great teacher. I mediate the learning process of a language with resources that can help them to go further in their own autonomous learning process.
My role as a teacher is much more than just teaching the language. I appreciate their life stories, their culture, their beliefs and I bring the cultural exchanges to their speaking practice and sharing in the classroom, making it much more meaningful, engaging, supportive, respectful, inclusive within a very affectionate humanistic teaching approach.
“Language is the road map of a culture.
It tells you where its people come from and where they are going” by Rita Mae Brown
I also promote experiences to my students here in NYC. I have taken them to visit the United Nations, to watch films at the public parks in the summer, to appreciate music events or to gallery openings to enlarge theirs and mine interest and exposure on culture and to feel more connected to this amazing place, New York City!
