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

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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

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Recent Comments

20

Nice message Bob and.... as an ESL teacher myself, I certainly know where you are coming from!!

I teach mainly the locals here in France, but.... also some foreigners and the worst for me are the kids from between 8-12 years old!

They generally don't want to learn and just mess around and if I try to tell them otherwise/discipline them... I get heat from their parents!!!

Nowadays, I have nearly faded out the kids and just stick to adults who actually want to learn English!!

All the very best moving forward with your online business endeavours my friend!:-)

I don’t mind the 8-12 year olds. Probably a bit more respectful in Vietnam 🇻🇳.
My dad was a teacher too and I reo him going ballistic and throwing heavy wooden dusters at the kids. lol. The good ok days. Luckily his aim was terrible or he could have killed somebody. lol.
Stevoi

Hi Jessie, I love kids but I've found that teaching adults is so much more enjoyable and rewarding. Adult education is the best kept secret in the education world. That's both good and bad. That's why I'm in two different advocacy groups to promote its cause and why I love doing what I do so much.

Thanks for your comments.

Bob

They're certainly not respectful here Stevoi and used to drive me up the wall!!!

But in their parents eyes... they were all little angels!!

The good old days indeed!!! I got hit by a few flying objects from teachers back in my days at school... also pinned to a wall on a couple of occasions!!

🤣👍

Totally agree with you Bob! I find much more satisfaction from teaching those who actually want to learn!!!

The rewards when seeing them achieve their goals is what it's all about in my opinion! :-)

Bob, this really resonates with me!

I appreciate how you connected your student's struggles with your own journey in WA.

It's easy to think we can figure things out our own way instead of following a proven path. I’ve been there too! Your student's persistence is inspiring, and so is yours.

Keep going—both of you are proof that real success comes from never giving up.

Cheers,
Boris

Great story, Bob. "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!"
In my understanding of life, everyone we meet is a reflection of some part of us and it is out job to figure out what that is and address it.
All the best with your plans for your site.
One final point which I think you already know... Being a part of WA is not just about making money, it's also about the journey we take along the way, the people we meet and interact with, and the support we gain from each other. In my book, that's often worth so much more than a $10 affiliate payment!

Hi Gail, thanks for your comments. Yes, the support is worth more than a few $. Embracing the journey is usually much more fulfilling than racing toward a destination. I believe that's a metaphor that coincides with smelling the roses as we go. Even though I already know that, I often have to stop to realize it, breathe, relax, and go forward.

Bob

Yes indeed... stop to smell the roses, pause for thought, take a walk in the garden of life, learn to dance in the rain and definitely go with the flow!

Great learning experience, Bob! And good for you, sticking it out to help this student!

Thanks for sharing!

Tim 🎼

Hi Tim, Thanks for reading and your comments.

Bob

Hey Bob, what an interesting story and a wake up call to me and I'm sure many others. I believe the secret to success is PPP - Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance. When you maintain these three, it will come sooner than you think. The main important things for success in blogs, video blogs (like YouTube channels), and podcasts are:

1) High-quality content
2) Thorough SEO (high demand and low competition keywords, on-page, off-page, etc.)
3) CTAs to gather leads for your email list (one of the best ways to monetize), direct affiliate sales or your own products and services, Adsense (Google & YouTube), Brand sponsorships, Collaboration, etc.
4) Starting a free and paid community.

I highly recommend that you start a community on Skool.com for your teaching, etc. but first create a few online courses for beginners, and as you go you can add intermediate and even advanced courses. You have a lot of experience and knowledge hence your courses would be structured in a way that learning would be easier than most other courses out there. Then use social media organic and paid advertising, your blog(s), and your YouTube channel to drive potential students to your free community. From there you hook them with your free assistance and some basic free courses. Then you use those members as leads for your paid community where they will get access to all your other courses and 1-on-1 coaching calls X number of times per month or X number of lessons per month or both.

Hi Hein, thanks for your comments. I appreciate your suggestions. I've been ruminating about some of it already. I will look into Skool.com/. I haven't heard of them before. You're absolutely right about PPP. Patience has always been my shortfall, although, students always tell me how patient I am. I guess nobody is all anything. My late mother used to often say that patience is a virtue. I didn't know what she meant. I do now.

Bob

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