What I Really Do vs. What Others Think I Do as a Language Assistant

I was recently shown this image below of what people think of an English Language Assistant in Spain. Although my task is not being the main teacher, but a Language Assistant, it made me think about what I really do and how it differs from the images.

What My Friends Think I Do

There is what my friends think I do, and then there is what I really do. At the moment, this image couldn’t be further from the truth. Time and time again I have to explain to my buds back home that I am in the Basque Country in northern Spain, where the weather here is almost exactly the same as in England and I too am wearing a scarf, two jumpers, and a wooly hat to school.

They definitely think I’m just chilling out and being a tourist most of the time. And yes, I am definitely making the most of being in Spain. I’ve been to the Pyrenees, along with the northern coast and sightseeing in Barcelona, Bilbao and San Sebastian. But I am also teaching hard.

In particular, I really enjoy preparing my classes for my students. Generally, I follow a textbook which they are working through. However, I like to try and think of how we can make this more fun (and avoid picture number 6).

For example, I’ve learnt that kids of all ages love it if you incorporate music into your lesson. I was introduced to a great website for ESL teachers called Lyrics Training where one can play popular songs but with missing lyrics. My students are huge fans of this!

They also like it when we play different games. A particularly successful game that I tried recently is Would You Rather where students are given the option of what they’d rather do (e.g. have no arms or no legs) and then they have to justify their reasoning. This makes for a very entertaining 20 minutes.

What My Parents Think I Do

There is what my parents think I do, and then there is what I really do. My parents regularly tell me how proud they are of me and that, as long as I’m doing what I enjoy, they don’t mind where I am or what I’m doing (within reason, obviously). I am very lucky to have parents like this and not parents who are pressurising me to come home and find a “real job.” I’m sure they’re probably thinking that I should return and make use of my 4-year Social Science degree, but they know that I am doing something I love.

My parents don’t quite think I am the main character in “The Sound of Music” second part (as in the image above), although my mum is convinced that I’m pretty much babysitting for a year. I regularly receive messages via WhatsApp such as “hi darling, how are the little terrors?” Come on Mum, they’re like 16. Some of them have better English than me.

What Society Thinks I Do

There is what society think I do, and then there is what I really do. I find it creepy how the internet knows everything about me. Every time I scroll down my Facebook news-feed or check my emails, there’s an advert on the side saying “want to teach abroad?” or “how to know if TEFL is the right job for you” or “become an ESL teacher in Spain.”

When I clicked on these (out of pure interest) I found that they tell you that teaching abroad will be like saving the Earth, one child at a time. It is described as a life changing experience that will make you a better, confident, more adventurous, exciting person who has made a leap of faith by moving abroad to a strange country, a far cry from home, and teaching young children who desperately need your help.

And while this may be the case, I’m pretty sure society really thinks that we are just people who cannot make up our minds as to what we want to do with our careers and are just looking for ways to avoid being real grown-ups and have real jobs in England.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my life right now.

What I Think I Do

There is what I think I do, and then there is what I really do. This is definitely the most accurate picture. I have taken it as my personal mission to improve my students’ English in any way possible. Harriet the Super Teacher. Not only am I teaching teenagers, but I’m also teaching the little ones and the teachers (though not all of them, I’m not really Super Woman).

In addition, a few weeks ago I arranged to take a group of students (see picture on the left) to the infantil classes where I played the guitar and we sang Christmas songs in both English and Basque. I actually learnt an entire Christmas song in Basque purely for their entertainment.

What My Students Think I Do

Some of my kids definitely do not enjoy coming to my class. This was always going to happen. Some of them hate English with a passion, some of them don’t really like studying in general, and most of them see my class as an opportunity to mess around. Much to their disappointment, however, there are exercises to do and conversations to be had, which they often respond to as if I am torturing them, medieval-Britain-style.

Discipline is probably the area that I was least prepared for. No-one can really teach you how to deal with moody, rude, and grumpy teenagers. You just have to learn as you go. I think the thing I’ve found the hardest is probably the students who actively ignore me. I can deal with noisy, disruptive, and cheeky kids, but the ones who refuse to acknowledge your existence are incredibly hard to deal with. Winning them over is a slow and painful process but is worth it when they actually engage with your lesson.

What I Actually Do

I most certainly do not let my students sleep in class, like the above image. Still, I am quite often as exhausted as they are by the end of the week. But to chill out and recover from teaching ESL, I am spending a lot of time with my host family. We often visit tourist attractions or interesting places over the weekend. On the left is a picture of me, my host sister and my host mum attempting to take a selfie in the Bosque de Oma, a forest full of painted trees. Below is me with a friend’s daughter when we went looking for Christmas lights in Mungia.

Living with a host family is a great way for me to experience Spanish (or in my case, Basque) life as I have found myself eating, sleeping, and breathing the lifestyle and traditions that they are so willingly sharing with me.