Teaching English

Hello Everyone!

An added bonus to studying abroad in Leon is the opportunity to be an English tutor. English is taught in the schools and many families want a native English speaker to tutor their children. All four Holy Cross students in Leon this year are tutoring from 3 – 6 hours a week. It’s a great experience and an easy way to earn a little extra money.

I have four students and I teach each student for one hour a week. They are aged from 5 – 14, and all speak English quite well, making my job pretty easy. We spend the time talking, reviewing grammar, singing songs, playing games, and studying for upcoming exams. One of my students had a test recently on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems in English – and he definitely knew more than me!

Although I don’t plan on teaching as a career, I really appreciate the opportunity to work with these kids. After years of studying Spanish in school, I get to flip the table and experience the unique challenges of teaching a foreign language. The hardest part is when I’m helping them with English homework that is based on the English dialect. I have to get used to using the words “trousers” for “pants”, “pullovers” for “sweaters”, and “rubber” instead of “eraser.” One student’s homework was a list of idiomatic expressions, and I honestly didn’t know some of the answers. Teaching is a great way to learn.

Have a wonderful week!
Ali

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2015 at 9:10 pm and is filed under Leon, Spain, Spanish, Spanish Major, Study Abroad. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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