Learning and Sharing - Teaching English

It's been many months since I've been active on this blog. I suppose that now is as good a time as any to update what I've been up to.

While it has an alright year for MoraCo Imports, it has not been a terribly lucrative one. With gas prices soaring, jobs being lost and the constant buzz of the eminent crisis, its hard for anyone to justify spending money on things that are not absolute necessities. myself included. In an attempt to save costs, I downgraded my space and made some other deliberate choices to reduce my operating costs. Since there had been a general decline in the amount of work I had to take care of at MoraCo Imports, I found myself missing out on the cultural sharing, and the learning, that I had been experiencing up till that point.

In my free time, I studied to become certified as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, and I have been working as an adjunct professor teaching adults at a community college, as well as privately. I teach adult students on various levels, from the most basic to Business-level English.

I have always felt so fortunate to have been raised speaking three languages. While I can't take credit for having been raised in a multilingual way, it has, for as long as I remember, been a strong shaping force in my life.

Its not just about the three different languages, its about the three different cultures, and vice-versa. You don't learn a language in a vacuum. You learn it in the context of a culture. This is what I find most exciting about teaching. As a teacher, you don't just teach the word or the phrase, you have to teach the meaning too.

I am aware of how difficult it is to learn a new language, especially as an adult. And we tend to fear things that we can't understand. I have been so humbled by the genuine effort I have seen in my students. I wish them the best.