How A Struggling ESL Student Helps Me Embrace The Misgivings Of The Man In The Mirror

byKBobTeacher

1.5K followers

Updated 1 month ago

For those who don’t know, I am an English as a second language (ESL) teacher. I love what I do. I’ve been doing it for several years. I teach beginner-level adults.

Some of my students speak absolutely no English whatsoever. Some have been in the USA for a month or less. I’ve even had students who don’t read or write in their native language, let alone English.

I also have students who have been in the USA for several years, who speak well enough to have a conversation with them, but they don’t read or write well, if at all, in English.

They know nothing about English grammar etc. Those students have usually developed some very bad habits. From my perspective, these are the most difficult students to teach.

Why?

Because they have developed such bad habits, they get in their own way and have a very difficult time unlearning what they think they know.

It is one particular student who is in this category whom is why I am writing this.

I hope to continue teaching ESL for the rest of my life. One of my goals as a WA member is to one day leave the school district where I have been employed for several years and do all my teaching online via my website https://englishteacherkbob.com/.

When that happens remains to be seen but, it will happen.

Also, for those who don’t know, I’ve been a member of WA since 2015, although not continuously. I have left and returned three times. I’m on my fourth tour of duty, as it were, since 2021. I plan to remain with WA for the rest of my life or the life of WA, whichever comes first.

Why have I left in the past?

The answer is simple. I got frustrated and, wasn’t making the money I believed I should have been making.

I’ll bet I’m not the only one who’s done that.

By the way, I’m still not making the money I believed I would be making at this stage of the game. I still get frustrated. The difference between now and before is, I committed to myself that I won’t quit and leave this time or any time. I’m in a committed long-term relationship with WA.

So, back to my day job as an ESL teacher.

Something I insist that my beginner students learn is how to conjugate the verbs, to be, to do, and to have. They are three of the most common verbs in the English language. They create a base from which much of my teaching will rely on them knowing so we can all move forward.

One of my students is from El Salvador and has been in the USA since 2008. He’s a true gentleman, is very helpful, or at least tries to be, he is dedicated to the class. He shows up almost every day ready to work. He struggles mightily and just does not understand some of the most basic concepts-things that others in the class seem to seamlessly grasp.

He’s learned to speak English pretty well, although I would not call him fluent. He seems to speak his own brand of English. Somehow, he gets by. He understands it pretty well but, when it comes to him learning the basic principles of the eight parts of speech and pronunciation, he can’t seem to get out of his own way.

Everyone in the class, including myself, tries to help him but, it seems to only frustrate him more. We go over things together again and again yet he continues to make the same mistakes. He gets embarrassed.

He doesn’t give up!

Last night, as both he and I became rather frustrated with him tripping on what he’s been tripping on since pretty much the first day of class, I had an epiphany.

I'm a lot like him!

I realized that in many ways, he is my mirror image.

I came to WA in 2015, knowing I didn’t know anything about internet marketing and all there is to learn at WA but I believed I was smarter than I was/am and that somehow, maybe by osmosis, this would all make sense and I would thrive.

It hasn’t and it doesn’t work that way.

My student, who, although he tries extremely hard, has been trying and continues to try to learn English his way, rather than the right way, does not do his homework, does not practice English outside of class, and speaks his native language about 100% of the time.

For those reasons, he remains stuck.

Recently, as per some of my recent writings, I’ve come to realize in no uncertain terms who and what the real problem is. I refer to him as the man in the mirror.

As my case pertains to WA, I have often tried to run before learning to walk, as the saying goes. I would start the training but not complete it. I developed some very bad habits. I have spent a lot of time trying to learn what WA has to offer my way, rather than the right way-the way it is all laid out so simply and easy to follow. I've been speaking my own brand of WA for many years.

Is it any wonder, I’ve struggled to succeed in online marketing?

The only one in WA who has ever given up on me was/is the man in the mirror.

I will continue to encourage my student to not give up on himself and to not quit.

I will continue to backtrack in order to go forward if that’s what it takes. I'm not giving up this time.

I've heard it took Thomas Edison something like 12,000 different ways that failed before he finally found a way to make an electric light bulb.

If you know anything about Abraham Lincoln's struggles in life, you know that "quit" was not in his vocabulary.

As I see it, that is the real secret sauce.

Bob