The English Teachers

RFDG: You passed though.

OS: I passed.

RFDG: So?

OS: Well, who knows, but I’m happy because I saw a completely different environment and I was happy to work with teachers of very different backgrounds. Most of them were from Turkish universities and I realised how different the education systems were. It was the first time I even heard of flipped classrooms and a lot of my fellow trainees actually used it there. Then I realised they used DELTA 1 to read and prepare everything and then discussed it.

At the same time there were people who taught in the Emirates; Saudi… There were two teachers from Saudi who were originally from South Africa. They told me they taught girls and boys separately, that there were a lot of taboo topics for them. You could never speak about relationships, music, art, film. It’s all prohibited. For me it was a shock. What do they speak about?!

RFDG: If you hadn’t been a teacher, what would you have done?

OS: I would definitely have been a manager. Now I have a lot of responsibility. If I had to quit teaching and teacher training, I’d be a fitness instructor.

RFDG: Why?

OS: I love fitness. I’m in good shape and it’s close to teaching.

RFDG: So, something involving giving people direction?

OS: Yeah.

RFDG: Are some people just made that way and it’s in their nature to teach skills to people?

OS: I know soft skills are the most difficult to develop and there are training sessions for introverts. It’s like, “OK, you can be an introvert at home with your family and friends, but when you are at work you have to negotiate.”

RFDG: And that training works?

OS: I think so, if they understand they really need it and if they are ready to sacrifice their nature. I’m not an introvert, but my students are always surprised that in life I am very shy. I hate being at parties of more than four people and where I have to initiate conversation. I do it for my job and sit with people that I don’t know well and talk about things. But elsewhere, no.

RFDG: Maybe you just need a break from work?

OS: I don’t know. Sometimes I feel I should do something and want to do it, but there is this odd feeling and it’s awkward. One of the worst moments was when I went to an ELT conference in Moscow and I was there alone. I had no colleagues who I knew there. There were so many people mingling. If people came to me that was perfect. They initiated the conversation and that was fine.

One day there was a kind of after party and I thought, “OK, I can use this chance to start talking to people and exchange contacts, etc.” Ten minutes passed and I was in the corner and it never happened. It ruined my confidence and I went away and didn’t even go the next day because I was so embarrassed. At the same time, I’m a teacher and when we have such personalities or issues, I tell them that story and they don’t believe it. So, some people have different roles in life.

*

Sebastian Orlande (SO)

Setting the scene: It’s summer in Vladimir Oblast, the region neighbouring Moscow to the east. Sebastian and I are underground in the teacher’s room of the summer camp where we are working. It’s the second week of a two-week session and he looks at me through his thick-rimmed black glasses with tired eyes. Teaching all day is hard – even with an afternoon break – and the heat has not helped. People don’t often think of Russia as having warm summers, but like the south of England where Sebastian and his accent are from, it does get rather toasty. Despite being a little tired from the hard day, he talks with little hesitation.

SO: My background is predominantly academia. I did a degree and was thinking about doing a Masters. I’m also creative and involved in acting at the independent level. And there’s also music.

RFDG: So why teaching?

SO: When I was at school we could do work experience and I volunteered to teach primary school kids Latin. I really enjoyed the experience. I did it with a friend of mine and we took half a class each. It was tough, but at the end it was a great feeling. It wasn’t perfect – there were lots of issues – but I knew it was a potential career path.

But because I went to university and did an Italian degree, it wasn’t one that would be recognised for teaching, so it seemed like teaching abroad was the obvious choice. However, I wanted to stay in the UK to pursue acting and music, and I had a bit of a negative experience teaching abroad in Italy, so I thought it wasn’t a career path that was going to happen any time soon.

RFDG: What did you like about teaching when you did your work experience?

SO: Just the idea of being around people and helping kids improve. It was a very nice school, very easy going. I felt quite strong in the subject having studied Latin at school and a lot of other schools didn’t do that or languages in general because they’re seen as difficult – and they are. I tried to excite young kids about languages like Latin, which is useful for studying other languages.

RFDG: And why English teaching in particular?

SO: Because I knew ESL was a career path. I’m also passionate about the language in general, even though I have an Italian degree I didn’t feel confident about the fact I wasn’t a native speaker. On reflection, I was taught by non-native speakers for several years and in several subjects that I didn’t think were particularly good at the time. At least, that was how I thought at the time. I’ve seen colleagues here who are fantastic teachers who aren’t native speakers and that’s changed my perception.

RFDG: Why are you so passionate about languages?

SO: Looking back, my dad grew up in Switzerland and I would go to France with him a lot. We had family friends there and he’d speak French. I didn’t understand much at the time. So, I think firstly it was a practical thing about being part of the conversation and wanting to understand what was going on and from then working at school on it.

Then moving up to A-level there was the literature, which I liked and seemed more interesting. I found at university that helped me improve my writing and my awareness of my own language because you have to think about your language and you don’t often do that as a native speaker.

RFDG: Did you decide to come to Moscow immediately after CELTA?

SO: Pretty much. It was something I was going to do. I tried to get into politics back home, but I didn’t really get into it and the band I was in broke up – which was sad because there was a lot of potential there. I saw it as an opportunity to go out and do things since I had nothing tying me to the UK.

RFDG: Why Moscow specifically?

SO: Firstly, I’ve always been interested in Russian history. We studied it at school and it excited me. There was a school trip, but I didn’t go because the trip basically entailed walking around in the snow for eight hours. We had done that in Poland before and I got pretty ill since I don’t do so well being out in the cold.

And then at university we studied Marxism and Russian History, so coming to Russia to see the former Soviet Union really appealed to me.

Practically, it seemed like one of the biggest markets. I didn’t want to go to China because it seemed too far away really whereas, in spite of what most people think about Russia as being scary, it always struck me as quite similar to the rest of Europe. And having come here, it doesn’t feel much different from being in Germany, for example.

RFDG: If you hadn’t come to Moscow, where would you have gone?

SO: Probably Italy or France, but it seems like it’s hard to find work there. I’d probably have looked at China, but it wouldn’t have been my first choice. So, Western or Eastern Europe. There’s an International House in Ukraine.

RFDG: Would you still choose to be an English teacher, or would you choose anything else?

SO: I’ve looked into teaching English Literature back home. I don’t see myself doing anything else, really. I do enjoy teaching. I sometimes see myself in politics, but I think I’m basically too opinionated. I mean, in some parties you can say whatever you like about the opposition, but you have to think that every policy in your own party is wonderful and you can’t criticise that. And I think you can make more of a difference in teaching. I’ve met some great politicians, but I think you have to suck up to a lot of people and I don’t think I can do that.

*

Aline C (AC)

Setting the scene: We are in one of the bedrooms of a log cabin in the summer camp in Vladimir. It’s the middle of the day and it’s cooler and more comfortable here. Despite the relaxed setting, Aline sits up as straight as her black hair. She speaks slowly and carefully in her relaxed Latin American accent. Her eyes are large like her smile. A warm person on an equally warm day.

AC: I was born in Brazil and I studied Engineering but I never worked as an engineer. I decided I wanted to change careers and I took the CELTA in 2017. I decided I should be somewhere else and I ended up here in Moscow.

RFDG: What prompted the change?

AC: I really didn’t like what I was working and learning with in engineering. I started studying English when I was young and I have to thank my mother for that. She always motivated me to take the certificates so I already had something that would help me get a job in English teaching, at least in Brazil. I figured I could start with that and I actually ended up really liking it.

RFDG: You could have chosen hundreds of countries and cities. Why did you pick Russia and Moscow?

AC: I wanted to work for International House because I got to know their material during the CELTA and I saw Russia was hiring on their website and they would help with the visa. It was the opportunity I needed.