Читать книгу The English Teachers - RF Duncan-Goodwillie - Страница 12

Setting the scene: I haven’t quite been able to explain to myself how or why, but even without talking to her in great depth beforehand, I could tell that Nadezhda is a teacher. She sits in a chair in a classroom near the main office with an air of wisdom and calm, speaking in a way that tells me she knows exactly what she wants to say and exactly what she is talking about.

NB: I come from Barnaul which is a city in Siberia. I graduated from school then went to university and studied for five years. It was the linguistics faculty. That’s when I realised the best thing I was taught was to speak English and to teach English. And that’s how I ended up in this career. As for Moscow, it was an opportunity to do a postgraduate study. That’s why I quit my job in Barnaul and moved to Moscow. I worked at a university. Then I decided to take a little break and after taking the CELTA course I started to work for BKC*.

*Note: BKC is a large chain of language schools in Moscow and is a franchise of International House.

RFDG: Did you do CELTA with BKC?

NB: Yes. It was in June 2018.

RFDG: When you were working at the linguistics faculty did you feel that teaching was the only option for you, or was it an active choice on your part?

NB: It was a choice, I would say. Before starting working, I was applying for different jobs, like being a secretary and I was trying different options, but I felt the most comfortable with this career.

RFDG: What influenced you to make this choice? Is it something that you’ve always wanted to do, or were there different things that happened?

NB: It started with the language first because when I was in 9th grade and it was time to think about what to do next, what majors to take in high school, I came up with my favourite subject and that was English. Then I thought about the place where English would be taught best in our city.

There were university courses, like Economics plus English, but I wasn’t very interested in Economics and International Affairs. So, the best linguistic option was the Pedagogical University. I went there to study English not teaching, but teaching was like the application of this knowledge. The way we were taught and how things were explained, and the practice we had during the course, even though I had the extra courses in translation and interpreting, I still thought teaching was more comfortable for me.

RFDG: You mentioned before you chose Moscow because there was an option for postgraduate studies as well. Were there any other reasons, or was this one opportunity that was the best?

NB: It was the only opportunity because they offered a place to live and in Moscow finding a place to live is a problem.

RFDG: Why Moscow in particular? Were there no other places in Russia that had this option?

NB: The university where I studied had a partnership with this university in Moscow. They were looking for students and they addressed different universities in all of Russia to invite students to come to Moscow.

RFDG: Would you have studied in a different country if you’d had the opportunity?

NB: Yes, I would.

RFDG: Anywhere in particular?

NB: I did a one-week course in England. I still monitor different options, but it’s all about having the money for it or getting a grant. In my field it’s not easy to find grants, but I still need to continue searching for other options.

RFDG: Why do you think it’s difficult to find grants?

NB: Most of the things I’ve seen have been related to Chemistry, Biology or Engineering. For social studies, especially teaching, it’s not so widespread. Not so many universities offer courses or programmes.

RFDG: Is it purely because it’s not popular?

NB: I’m not sure if it’s about popularity. I know the teaching profession is quite significant. As for other countries, I wouldn’t say it’s as prominent as here in Russia. Even in Russia there’s been a decline in preparing teaching staff. So, that’s why abroad there are not so many programmes aimed at this. There can be things like CELTA and DELTA but they are, in my opinion, somewhat limited. I studied for five years at my university and I had teaching methods, psychology and other basic courses. If we speak about CELTA that’s just four weeks and I’m glad I did it after I had some experience. It was like the cherry on top to add to the skills I already had.

RFDG: Would you say it’s best to have some teaching experience and then do CELTA?

NB: It can be like a catch 22, I think. On the one hand, it gives the basics, it gives you some ideas. I would suggest having some formal education together with CELTA and study teaching at the very beginning. I had some basic skills and it’s not something that has been hammered into me and I am still flexible and ready to accept new things, and modify my behaviour in class. At this point this is also good because I know what to do. I feel comfortable in the classroom and that’s why it’s not as stressful as it might be when you come and see the group of people and you have to work with them and explain things to them.

RFDG: If you had the choice, would you do a different job?

NB: I also feel comfortable with technical drawing. If I hadn’t chosen English I might have gone into Engineering. But I don’t know how serious I can be about it because I never had anyone who could consult with me, or notice if I was doing something well. I don’t know now.

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