the path of a novice university teacher

Last month I introduced a new section of interviews to present you some of the possible career paths related to English. As my first guest, we listened to Eva, an experienced university professor of English applied linguistics from Hungary. She shared her appreciation, along with some obstacles, of a career in the academia. This time I thought of confronting her views with a novice teacher, who comes from a different environment and faces different career prospects. Let us see how uniform or unique their experiences are in the context of college education.

 

Hello, Enrico. Could you tell us where you work and for how long you have been there? 

Hello, Anna. I am a PhD student at a university in the UK (the specific institution was hidden by the editor), where I started to work on my research project in January 2012 in the Department of Linguistics and English Language. Last autumn I worked as a seminar tutor for the grammar part of a module on English Sounds and Structures. About 80 students had to attend a weekly lecture given by the course convenor, and then they were divided into four groups. I took care of two groups, while a colleague ran the other two. Most of these students are 2nd-year undergraduates majoring in either Linguistics or English Language, and the vast majority of them are native speakers of English.

 

As I understand, these are your first teaching experiences but not your only experience of what it means to be part of higher education. Where do you come from?

I come from Italy, where I studied Intercultural Communication at the University of G... and Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of P... In the first few months of my PhD, I’ve also been working as a research assistant in both the Department of Linguistics and English Language and the Department of History.

I see. What do you feel to be the main differences between the higher education system of Italy and the UK?

Well, we are speaking about two totally different systems. First of all, the academic environment in the UK is much more informal. Here you would address professors by their first names, whereas in Italy I have never seen anything like that. Another important difference is that courses in Italy are usually structured in series of frontal lessons and and students are assessed on the basis of final exams, whereas here courses are fragmented into lectures and seminars, and students are also required to sit tests, take part in group presentations and write essays, and each of these activities will be taken into consideration for their final mark (e.g. in our course a 2,000-word long essay usually counts for the 10%). At a more general level, British universities tend to be more research-oriented than Italian ones. 

 

How do you like to be on the other side of the podium, and specifically at a university? 

Well, it feels like a big responsibility, but it was something I have always found fascinating. Indeed, since my first days as an undergrad, teaching at a university has always been a dream for me. Therefore, I took the challenge with a lot of enthusiasm, although it was a big source of stress, since I was an absolute beginner in teaching.

Well, we all start like that. :-) What do you feel to be the main challenges for you as a novice teacher? 

Well, I think university teaching poses several challenges. One of them is that you have to gain your students’ trust, and it’s not easy because you don’t have the chance to meet them very often. Nevertheless, it’s something you need to do, because initially (at least in the UK) most of them tend to keep silent and avoid asking questions, even though when you insist a bit you will probably find out that there are topics they have not fully understood. The lack of time is also a problem for the teaching activity itself, because you have to help students to find their way through paths which are often full of traps even for scholars, as in the case of grammar. Once you manage to make them feel you are there to help rather than judge them, then you have to help them find a reason to come to your seminars, along with the fact that it’s mandatory. You know, unlike in many other countries (for instance, those with a classical cultural background) where the grammar of the native language is taught since the first years of primary school, in the UK undergraduate students have very little or no background in grammar, so they approach it with a sort of fear of the unknown. It is up to you to overcome this problem, and show them that grammar is not so nasty after all, that it is not an abstract object so detached from everyday life, and you have to help them develop the confidence that they can succeed in this subject. 

Of course, teaching English grammar to native speakers, by a non-native speaker, can also be an additional source of pressure, since it is a quite odd position.

Indeed. To connect your experiences to those of our previous guest, can you relate to what Eva described about the situation in Hungary? Is it similar in Italy and/or the UK?

I think that Eva described a situation which is quite similar to what you can observe in the UK, indeed.

 

Finally, what do you think a good university instructor is like? Who would you recommend a career as a university teacher for? 

Well, I think a good instructor is, first of all, somebody who is empathetic and patient with their students, and who takes the bother to try and look at course materials with a student's eye, in order to figure out the most likely sources of problems for them. Then, I think it is important to have a nice and humble attitude. Instructors have to be available for clarifications and open to students' ideas. Ideally, students should live lectures/seminars/workshops as opportunities to delve into the topics of their courses and dissipate their doubts in a 'safe' (i.e. not face-threatening) environment. Indeed, apart from the more strictly 'institutional' aspects of the teaching process, I think the role of the instructor is that of a tutor, who provides students with the advice to find their own way to approach the subject. And I think a good instructor is somebody who never forgets that the teaching process doesn't go in one direction only: just as they have something to teach their students, students will have something to teach them as well.  I would recommend a career as a university teacher to somebody who 1) is passionately fond of their research field; 2) likes being surrounded by (especially young) people; 3) is understanding and patient.

Nicely put. Thank you, grazie mille.

Thank you, Anna! Grazie a te!

favorite country

According to a 2013 survey, in which participants had to pick their favorite European country (apart from their home country), Germany is the most popular choice, at least for those approximately 2000 people who gave their answers. Scandinavia, the UK, the Netherlands, France, and Germany are in the center of people's attention. One might realize, these are also the countries which occupy a central position, economically and geographically as well. The Western corners, like Ireland, Portugal, and even Spain, seem to be much less appreciated (visited?) despite the obvious beauties the countries offer (the green Irish fields, the blue coastline, and La Sacrada Familia). 

Not surprisingly, the Eastern and Southern regions are even less chosen, in spite of the breathtaking and culturally exciting sites they host (like Athens, Mostar, Istanbul, or Prague among others). It was a personally pleasant surprise, however, that Hungary appears to be standing out from the surrounding area. I must say, it helps a lot to have low-cost airlines in your country. :-)

Since I would be interested in your opinion and your preference, as teasers let me add a couple of comments others made when observing these results.

I've always thought we were the least liked country nowadays...?! Well, thanks, I guess! (X from Germany)

I love the diversity of Europe! Within one hour from my local airport I can be in Dublin, Amsterdam,  Brussels or Berlin! (Y from the UK)

Eastern Europe is too cool and complicated to be grasped by outsiders. (V from Romania)

The less central europe is undiscovered the better for us  Prague is full of american tourists, and walking through it is like walking in a theme park now. (W from the Czech Republic)

The European Union is my country...LOVE IT!! (Z from Portugal)

source: OneEurope

world peace

Since a certain round number birthday is approaching me, I decided to use the occasion for a good cause. Spending a couple of weeks on organizing the event, I sent out invitations to people, who not only are connected to me but also share a passion of mine that I often find to be a bridge between people and a remedy for differences. I am talking about sports; in our case, football specifically.

Among the invited, there were Hungarians, Slovenians, Germans, Colombians, and Nigerians; teachers, psychologists, lawyers, poets, market researchers, and IT technicians; elementary school students, college students, doctoral candidates, and pensioners; single, married, and widowed people, in straight or gay relationships. We were diverse. But we were there for the same reason. To have fun and play with each other.

And as such, we played for world peace. Happy (birth)days to everyone!

persona

My kid learner invited me to her masquerade party at school. To my greatest surprise, trends changed a great deal (okay, this is not too surprising so far) and did so in a pretty controversial way (and this was the surprise). It is no longer that the students (and their families) individually decide on what kind of costume to wear and how to put it together, like in the "old days" of my childhood, which was a lot of fun. Instead, it is the community of the class that picks for the whole group (first shock) and they don't make but order the costumes (second shock). The biggest surprise, however, comes only now: girls got to be angels and boys were devils. Can it go worse? Girls nuns, boys rapists perhaps?

Some girls like the role of an angel, being in pure white and soft make-up. Although I find make-up a bit early at the age of 9, but let it be. But to force it to everyone, that is a serious problem. Also, while some boys enjoy the liberating role of being a prankster (but that's not devil, I may point out), I doubt it is a healthy message to the group of boys that they are as bad as the devil. 

You can say, I went too far, because this is not that serious. It is just meant to play with dichotomies like yin and yang, man and woman, bad and good. Exactly that is the problem. Because it is not as simple and clear-cut as mainstream culture (and education) would like to suggest. A girl thinking she must be perfect, otherwise she is not a girl, and a boy believing he cannot be nice, otherwise he is effeminate, is an end-product of such innocent school projects that no one benefits from.

use your anger constructively

February is Black History Month. I am sure, most people would think of Martin Luther King, Jr. to use as an emblem of commemoration. Or bring up Obama. Or Oprah Winfrey. Really, who do you think of when trying to connect a figure to Black History?

As for me, although MLK is one the three great leaders I like to turn to for inspiration (it is enough to quote his genially simple "The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind"), I would now remember another, less renown but inspirational figure, Audre Lorde. Not only to introduce someone you may not be familiar with, but also because February is also LGBT Month.

Audre Lorde. She was black, she was a woman, and she was a lesbian. Three dimensions of not fitting our white, chauvinistic, and heteronormative society. Three reasons for "us" to call her a freak. And she was called one, or rather, three-in-one. 

And this made her angry. But what she realized was that anger is a tool. Anger is self-expression. Anger is not something to be ashamed of or swallow. If you do, like I wrote before, it eats you up. If, on the contrary, you stand up for yourself, admitting the harm and the anger it triggered, it sets you free and gives you hope.

It is Audre Lorde who said: "Your silence will not protect you," because, as she continues, "when we speak, we are afraid our words will not be heard nor welcomed, but when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive." At the end of the day, we are all going to die, so there is nothing to lose. Be yourself, today, this month, this year, and always.

studying the native language is very beneficial

In the last expat interview of 2013, we got a taste of Aaron's views about issues like the United States as a country not of destination but of origin, being a native English-speaker in a foreign country, and the importance of learning new languages. In January, then, Reka, a recent immigrant to the US, reacted to some of Aaron's statements, while adding her own experiences about the peculiar situation of being a Romanian-born Hungarian. This time I brought you Stan, an African American writer and professor, who lived in Japan for almost a decade and is now staying in Hungary with his Russian wife. Let us see how his experiences shape our expectations of what it means to live in a foreign culture.

Welcome, Stan. Thank you for accepting our invitation. Do you have any favorite tea? Iced tea, matcha, Russian caravan, or the Hungarian “daycare tea,” with a lot of sugar and lemon?  

Japanese matcha or a nice Earl Grey, thank you.

As I know, you have been an expat for quite a while. Could you give us a short summary about the main stations of your journey?

I left the States at 22 to be an English teacher in Japan, where I lived for 8 years. During that time I worked as a teacher, a manager, and a university teacher. During that time I was a short story science fiction writer and an editor as well. In Japan I met my wife and after some time, we decided to move to Europe and landed in Hungary. I’ve been here now for eight years and working again as a university teacher and writer.

US, Japan, Hungary -- very different places. I suppose, for each moving you had to pay a price. How did you cope with the fact that whenever you moved, you left a part of your life behind and started something very different?

To be honest, it wasn’t that big a deal for me. When I left the US, I was looking forward to the adventure of living abroad! As a young man, it was a great opportunity. And anyway, I always made sure to visit the States once or twice a year to see family and friends.

When we left Japan it was a bigger transition, and the reasons were different, but the fact was that, at least for me, the time had come to move on and start a new phase of my life. I wanted, specifically, to leave behind the life I led in Japan and build a new one with my wife and family.

You seem to have had certain expectations about both of your new homes (and lifestyles). How much did they prove to be right?

To be honest, since my expectation of Japan was "not the US", it pretty much fulfilled it! It was the different cultural experience I was looking for, without the social pressures I'd felt back home. For Hungary, this was different since I had visited it before and my wife had lived here before, so she had friends here and a support network of sorts. Hungary was much tougher than Japan in certain ways, but I think that's mostly because I now had a family to take care of, which increases one's apprehension. Once again, however, as I acclimated to Hungary, I found, as I said previously, that the place was easy to deal with. Except the red tape. There's so much of it., and it gets in the way of things at time.

Now let’s turn to the issue of communication. It is a general claim that native English speakers have certain privileges that others don’t. What is your opinion about it?

Absolutely true. In general, we’ve got a shot to “get along” wherever we go. However, that only goes so far. In both Japan and Hungary, I’ve found studying the native language in that country very beneficial to living well. In both places, my experiences were different from other expat Americans or Brits because I could speak a little. For example, in Hungary, I find dealing with authorities simply easier because I speak some small amount of Hungarian, whereas some compatriots of mine find, say, dealing with the tax office an absolute nightmare because they don’t. This isn’t to say I don’t have problems (I don’t have nearly enough Hungarian to, for example, try to complain about service in a restaurant!).

Talking about inequalities, have you ever felt underprivileged in our white-centric world?

Yes, frankly, but the ways are subtle and frankly odd, and very different than the racism I suffered back in the States. Also, when applying for jobs or other such things, for many “others” like myself, I always wonder, if I don’t get a job or opportunity, was I simply not good enough, or was I “too black”, and being so, got denied something I otherwise would have. Otherwise, the inequalities tend to be snarky comments and snide remarks just out of earshot. Though, once, I did have a skinhead hiss at me like a snake when he walked by me in Hungary. That was new.

Unfortunately, it is not hard to imagine. In your experience, which proved to be a bigger obstacle, language or culture?

Culture. Having lived now and worked in several countries, I can say that language can be dealt with, but culture is harder, since it’s one of those things you don’t really notice, like air, until something gets in it. People have different “basic” assumptions about how the world should work, and a lot of these are based on culture (both in terms of nationality and class; both affect what you “know”). For example, when I first met my wife, I other thought she was constantly angry at me, because she used to raise her voice a lot (a sign of aggression and anger in my culture). Turns out, in hers, it just means you are saying something that needs emphasis. Took me a LONG time to get that one.

Do you have any memorable or funny incident related to language or culture?

Many many many. Once, in Japan, I was at an ice cream shop, and the attendant asked me, in very polite Japanese, what I would like on my sundae. I told her that anything was okay, just not “unko.” I meant to say “anko”, which is a sweet red bean in Japan, but actually, I said a very bad word for, well, crap. The attendant laughed at me (not common in Japan!) and assured me that wasn’t going on my sundae.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone considering to live abroad?

Take your time to find a job before you go abroad, and what getting a place to live, basic utilities, and health care are like. There’s enough stress in living abroad, and you can’t assume things work that same way they did in your country.

For example, there are ATMs everywhere in Japan, but many of them stop working or are closed at around 6pm; 24-hour ATMs are very rare. Also, they don’t use debit cards, and barely use credit cards either; if you’re used to these conveniences, you’ll miss them dearly or make a mistake thinking you don’t need to bring cash with you! I’ve been at computer shops watching people buy expensive machines with large wads of cash.

Realistic and practical. Thanks a lot!

see me

I've been teaching and analyzing presentations for years. Part of my routine is that I watch (and make my students watch) TED talks. Of course I have my favorites but I also test them with my students. A lot of people found Sir Ken Robinson hilarious and inspirational. Some, however, felt it was too much of a stand-up comedy. Also a large number of people gave positive feedback about Steve Jobs's Stanford Commencement Speech, or in more popular terms, on his How to Live Before You Die talk. Nevertheless, some critiqued that he was not being authentic and seems just like selling something. Simon Sinek's talk on the Golden Circle also received applause, but to the European ear his style seemed too manipulative in a number of cases. 

There was one speech only -- which by chance has been my favorite from the start -- that gained appreciation from everyone. And that was a presentation from a (for me) unknown Indian guy who charmed his audience not only with his simple, clear, and adorable message but also with his personality which he allowed to shine through every second of the talk (or rather, story-telling).

 

"Within infinite myths lie the truth. Who sees it all? Varuna has but a 1,000 eyes. Indra a 100. 

You and I only 2."

tea

It is exactly a year ago that I got a business group whose instructor decided to quit teaching temporarily and asked me to replace her for a couple of months. The group and I got to like each other so much that her return never happened. One of the students, a big, confident, tough guy, who likes to call himself a choleric, became so soft and caring in the classes that he brought me tea every morning. Because these very early morning classes (god, how nice it is to get up at 5 AM!). Even when he had to go to a meeting or on a field trip, having to miss the class, the mug and a tea bag were waiting for me on the handle of the classroom.

Now that the classes stopped, he gave me the same mug and the same box of teas, as a present to commemorate those pleasant English (to be fair, Irish) breakfasts of ours. I must say, I still like to drink that tea when I have to get up early in the morning.

This post is a thank you to you for the inspiration you gave to this TEA blog.