The Adventures of Teaching Language by Esther

The Adventures of Teaching Language by Esther - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

If I were a college professor, I would teach an ESL class. As a child of someone who emigrated to the United States from a foreign country and had to learn the English language anew, I consider it a worthy enterprise to contribute to the growing sphere of English speakers around the globe and open the windows to new opportunities and experiences for people of other language.

English has become ubiquitous the world over as nations have become more and more interconnected. Often, signs in other countries have both English and the native language printed on them. Many businesses find it convenient to hire people with knowledge of English to deal with English-speaking clients and increase the potential for expansion into other countries. Some people learn it to better understand the vast expanse that is the internet, of which English is found to be the most commonly used language.

On the other hand, there are people from other nations who emigrate to America to become citizens. These people face a daunting new world with a whole new language, people, and culture. The main step they must take to assimilate into this new world is to learn the English language. Not knowing English in the United States is a great hindrance to learning new things and getting a decent career. It also hampers the ability of a student to interact with his/her peers and make meaningful connections with others.

To eliminate the divide between languages would be my goal as a professor. It is a fascinating experience to help students grow in their understanding of new concepts and help boost their perception of the written and spoken world around them. There are also the opportunities for myself to learn new things as I teach, such as the ideas which I had never thought about due to my unconscious acceptance of a language that I hadn't cared to scrutinize. There can be moments when someone points out something about the language you have spoken all of your life but have never noticed before--these are the kind of “gotcha” moments that make me take a step back and view my native tongue in a new and humbling light.

Whether it is to teach students who have recently immigrated to America from foreign countries or to go directly to other countries to teach, I consider it an amazing opportunity to teach, learn, and connect with people who speak another language. Through teaching, I want to give students wings to fly higher in this changing and increasingly information-driven world. I consider teaching English as a second language the perfect way to do so.