Читать книгу The English Teachers - RF Duncan-Goodwillie - Страница 24

Setting the scene: Like many interviewees, Felipe puts a great deal of thought into what he says. Unlike many interviewees, he often makes puns and sly asides. This takes the edge off the wisdom and thoughtfulness that comes through while we sit in somewhat uncomfortable desk chairs in one of the smaller classrooms of a teacher training centre.

FF: I went to university in Brazil to get a degree in English, so I did some studying of English literature and pedagogy. I worked as an English teacher while I was at university. I started when I was 18. I worked for two and a half years in a school that was mostly audio-lingual, so there was a lot of drilling.

When I finished I got a job at a school which did CLT and that’s where I stayed for the next six years. Then I did my CELTA in 2014 and I went to Barcelona and started my DELTA before going back to Brazil to do Module 1. Once that was over I started looking for jobs elsewhere and then I came here.

RFDG: Why did you choose teaching?

FF: To be honest, I didn’t know what else to do with my life. In Brazil, when you finish secondary school you have to decide what course you want to do and you have to do a university entrance exam, which is quite hard. It can be a big waste of time if you decide to do a course and give up halfway through. Since I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do I decided to go with what I was good at which was English. It honestly wasn’t the hardest one to get into. Midway through I needed some money, so I thought I might as well start teaching. I taught university students and enjoyed it.

RFDG: Brazil and Spain are quite hot, so why Moscow?

He laughs in anticipation of his answer.

FF: Because it was cold. Actually, after I was done in Barcelona and started looking for jobs, I was more interested in going to Colombia or Argentina because I was more interested in practising my Spanish more than anything. Of all the schools I sent my CV to, BKC was the nicest one. It was a similar situation to when I was looking for a place to do my DELTA. I sent my application to IH Vancouver, Barcelona and London. Barcelona was the nicest. They replied the quickest and gave me as much information as I wanted. How receptive the company was, for me, important.

RFDG: So, it’s not so much the country as the school or the company?

FF: Yeah, it was mostly about the company because I really wanted to further my career and become a CELTA trainer. That’s my immediate goal and I thought I’d have a better chance of doing it here. In my interview, my interviewer mentioned all the seminars and workshops. So far I’m the only person who seems to be excited about seminars.

RFDG: If you hadn’t become an English teacher what would you have been?

FF (deadpan): Homeless?

I can’t help but laugh and join in the fun.

FF: Seriously, I honestly don’t know. I feel many English teachers are failed artists of some kind. I did some writing at university and I record music from time to time, so I’d like to be involved in something like that. But I don’t think I’d be making as much money as an English teacher which is not that much to begin with, so that’s quite discouraging. I guess some sort of boring administrative job somewhere.

RFDG: Is that observation of English teachers being failed artists based solely on your life or encounters with others?

FF: Encounters with others for sure. Including one famous one. If you look up Jeremy Harmer’s name on Google, you’ll find two blocks. One devoted to ELT, the other to his not so well known music career. So, I’m in good company.

RFDG: Is it beneficial for teachers to have an artistic flair?

FF: It means you’re more willing to make a fool of yourself, or that you are more comfortable in public and being the centre of attention… and maybe you want to be the centre of attention. So that helps. Sometimes you find teachers who get anxious easily and don’t know how to do it very easily, so perhaps that is somehow connected.

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