Log Entry 001 - Why become a teacher of English?
- Sep 15, 2017
- 3 min read
Why a teacher? And why of English?
(SCT Session #01-02)
English has always came relatively easy and enjoyable for me when compared to most local Hong Kong people, and considering that I received my secondary school education in international schools, where English was not just grammar rules and drilling exercises but stories, history, culture and literature and so much more, my proficiency in English came to no one's surprise.
Am I the best in my year? No, not even close; there were so many more literate, creative and refined schoolmates than I. Besides, it had never occurred to me in high school to pursue a life of a teacher at the time. Not of English anyways. English was part of life - how I communicated with people, how I experienced stories, how I satisfied my curiosity of knowledge. It never seemed like a genuine subject to learn.
The idea only struck me when I had to start thinking about getting a job after years of post-secondary education. The thing is, I don't just want a job, I want an occupation to which I can dedicate myself; I want my job to worth spending Life on. It was in the midst of searching and contemplating that I was reminded of the sense of defeat and failure when I was studying Chinese (Mandarin), which was a mandatory subject in my university. My petition to take the Chinese class for international students fell on deaf ears when I could write a 500-words composition in Chinese. The experience was still as vivid as yesterday: I had to sit through 2 hours of mandatory Chinese in a room full of classmates who have finished their A-levels. Form 7 vs. Grade 5. I knew the gap, and previewed as well as revised as often as I could. Studying more than anyone else only to achieve bare acceptability in language proficiency is defeating; getting stuck trying to communicate hurts.
That is when I decided that if I had such a difficult time learning Chinese, what must the students of most Hong Kong schools feel when they had to sit through English? My Chinese is many people's English. I had wished there was someone to help me with Chinese when learning needs were so diverse; I had wished someone was there to help me so I wouldn't have to belittle myself for struggling to keep up. The teacher knew of my predicament since I've confided in her even before the first class, but nothing much could be done. I want to be that someone on their journey of learning and discovering English.
I still have a long way to go to be anywhere near the kind of qualified and professional educator that I envisioned and aspired to be. Yet, if I were to become a truly qualified and professional teacher, then I would want it to be on a subject in which I am proficient and am interested. I want to be the companion of my students on their harrowing journey in making English theirs to keep. For those who love English and literature, I want to meet with them - these kindred souls, so we could talk our days away in literature and stories.
If I am to do anything for life, it has got to be something of meaning and worth, to others and myself. There are honestly jobs more profitable, more relaxing and equally as stable as that of a teacher, an educator. Education is meaningful to me.
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