Ms Lan Phương 8.5 IELTS

 “What we learn with pleasure, we never forget”. The saying by Alfred Mercier that I encountered one day somehow has a magical power that keeps me trying harder and harder every single day to inspire and instil the love of English into my beloved students.

As a teacher of English, I understand that learning English is a pleasure to some yet the worst nightmare to others. What I always want to say to my students is “When it comes to English I’m no way better than you guys, it’s just that I’m luckier to have found the love for it earlier – the love that you’re looking for”.

The joy of learning English is the key to master it. With the passion for English, teaching this beautiful language is, as I would like to think of it, never just a monotonous process of giving new words, making people memorize lengthy grammatical structures, checking homework and reluctantly giving useless punishment.

I really want my students to cultivate a passion for learning English, because if they do, they will never cease to get better with this language. After all, teachers OPEN the door, but students must ENTER it by themselves, not any teacher can teach you new vocabulary, new grammatical rules every day for the rest of your life. More importantly, if you’re not willing to learn, no one can HELP you. If you’re determined to learn, no one can STOP you. My students must be the teachers of themselves. To help them, what I need to do is not to provide them as many new words as possible but to try my best to inspire them to learn. I want every English lesson to be full of laughter, joy and fun. I want my students to feel the beauty of English. I want them to know about the culture that lies behind that language. I want them to know that those who can overcome the fear of learning English will succeed. I want them to understand that “the limits of your language are the limits of your world”. Above all, I NEED my students to believe in themselves, “ take pride in how far you have come, and believe in how far you can go”. Never stop learning!

What I also want my students to bear in mind is that “Making mistakes is better than faking perfection”. Although “experience is a hard teacher, because she gives the test first, the lessons afterwards”, you need to know that we learn from failure, not from success. Do not let mistakes be your setback but your motivation to learn harder.

Another thing that I keep saying to my students is never hesitate to ask. Anyone who is afraid of asking is actually ashamed of learning. There is always more to learn. Asking is a sign that indicates you are willing to take all that knowledge and make it yours. Some of my students do have the peer pressure that always discourages them from making questions in class. The “evil” peer pressure tends to make your mind full of irrational fears that people will laugh at you if you make a silly question. Alright sweeties, from now on, I want you to remember that laughter is no enemy to learning. Say this to yourself every day when you wake up in the morning “A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise instruction”, so never be afraid of asking questions! Come to my class and feel free to ask!

I believe that learning a language will be a pleasure if you realize how beautiful that language is and open your mind to it! Come to me and you will see <3>