Global Voices 32-3

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Terence, Cambodia

It was the 19th century American essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who is often quoted as having written ‘Life is a journey, not a destination’. In fact what he actually said was ‘To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom’. How true that is as I reflect on where I currently am and how I got to this point in my life as an English language teacher. At present, I am the Campus Director of the ELT Institute in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. ELT, as the institute is better and locally known as, is one of the best and longest established English language schools in Cambodia with almost 30 years of history at the time of writing.

After a career which has taken me to Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Indonesia, China, Bahrain and Myanmar, I am now back working in Phnom Penh. Emerson’s words still reverberate within me. What an amazing teaching journey I have had and am still having. It truly has been a magical journey. Myanmar was particularly special. My job was with the same type of private language centre as I had worked at back in Indonesia. It was great fun and the students were brilliant. They wanted to fully participate in all class and social activities. Picture the scene, around fifty students chasing an Irish leprechaun around the school. They and I will never forget that. I do not think my direct supervisor or employer will either! The country itself is spectacular: the temples, the mountains and the culture as a whole. During this time, I asked my then girlfriend to marry me and she agreed!

But from a teaching point of view, what have I learnt and what can I share with those of you who are just starting your teaching journey? It is all about people: the students, their parents, your colleagues, your employers and your private relationships. All of these are set within the medium of English language teaching and a world of different cultures. Stay positive and try to avoid the energy-sucking vampires, gossips and snakes within the staffrooms. Most of all, enjoy the journey: your own teaching journey.

Time for a cup of tea. I will make a nice cup of pu-erh tea for both myself and my wife. Life is a journey and I am so thankful that language teaching has enriched mine. To your health and happiness everyone!


Barbara, Italy

Hello from Italy. My name is Barbara Seeber. I’m an English teacher at Monguelfo middle and primary school, where I teach about 150 kids from the ages of 8 to 13. Monguelfo is a small village in South Tyrol, the most northern region of Italy, far away from Italian beaches, in the middle of the Alps. Our mother tongue is a German dialect; Italian is the second language the kids learn at school, and English is their third, which they start to learn at the age of eight. Outside the English classroom the chances to use the newly learnt language are few and far between, which makes some of them feel uneasy and embarrassed when using it in presentations, exams or authentic speaking situations.

In such stressful situations I can support them in a special way as an evolutionary educator®. Evolutionary Pedagogy® (founded about 30 years ago in Munich by Ludwig Koneberg) sees every learning process, especially language learning, as an evolutionary process. Evolution and the development of language can only take place through motion, as is also proven by neuroscience. Considering the slow step-by-step evolution of a baby into a grown-up human, we understand that a slow straightening-up movement is taking place, from one level to the next. Every stage has its very own brain development and competences, its own perception, its own typical movements to get into balance and thus its own way of communication.

By observing my learners without bias, how they act and react in class, how they move and behave in stressful moments when they use the newly acquired language, I am able to detect at what stage they are blocked. With very easy but specific kinetic exercises I can bring them back on track, to connect their learning process to their balanced emotions and to continue their language learning.

One super-simple but most-effective tool every teacher should have in their toolbox for stressful moments, for example, consists of half a minute of simple hopping. This brings everybody back into balance, both students and teachers.

Sounds too simple? Then give it a try next time you feel stressed out in your classroom (or outside) and feel the magic of what I call ‘E-motion: English in motion’.


NT, Mongolia

My name is Nyamtaivan. People know me well by my nickname, NT. The deep experiences, shared interactions and wonderful opportunities of my life have shaped me into the person I am today.

I grew up in a quite remote community, twelve hours from Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. My English-learning journey truly began in secondary school where I met and studied under American Peace Corps Volunteers and my Mongolian English teacher, Dulmaa. Successful language acquisition would have been impossible without my teachers, now friends. From that experience, I have developed a desire to facilitate English and help everyone who is learning English near me.

Although I specialise in international relations and tourism, teaching English and sharing my knowledge has been an inevitable and most enjoyable part of my life. I always appreciate every single opportunity to help English learners with my experience and care. I am an official TESOL teacher with more than a decade of teaching experience.

Currently, I live in the capital city, running an NGO to help nomadic herders in the very remote areas of Mongolia through international aid. On top of this, I teach at an EdTech Company called Lingors. We promote the Extensive Reading Approach through Xreading Virtual Learning and our expanded language programmes. I have been with this wonderful team since 2018.

Due to the pandemic, virtual learning escalated exponentially. We took the opportunity to reach out online to English learners in remote areas like my hometown, or way up to the north. During that time, Xreading founder Mr Paul Goldberg introduced an idea for our programme to organise meetings with authors, an opportunity that I personally brought to fruition in 2021. My first guest authors were Michael Lacey Freeman from Italy and Andy Boon from Japan. These events were a great success thanks to their participation and their support. The community impact was immensely positive. From this experience, I got a taste of connecting readers and authors beyond distance and time zones.

It is a wonderful opportunity to contact authors in advance and to get their permission to organise a virtual discussion that features their books and stories. After getting permission, I promote the author’s well-known books among readers who get to share their book reflection and ideas during the meeting. The readers not only get to meet famous authors and learn from their stories, writing experiences and advice, but also hear their peers’ perspectives and experiences about the same book they have read. The most recent author meeting was conducted internationally involving 120 readers from over 10 different countries. I cherish every reader’s opinion and experience, alongside learning from the stunning authors and their invaluable experiences. It is a great pleasure to see the spark in the children’s eyes when they try to speak English and communicate with authors.

I teach English to contribute to the education system of Mongolia, at a personal level. I firmly believe that the core of fostering quality English education and achieving high-quality opportunities for our posterity is to build a suitable environment: strong leadership and empowered teachers with resilient skills. Concurrent with that spirit, I started an International Toastmasters Club in 2022, for English teachers to reinforce public speaking skills and personal leadership paths; it’s an environment where they advance their English speaking skills overtly and collectively.

There are so many teachers that share this common motivation and enthusiasm. I encourage them to raise their voices in the community and become the change.


Sharouq, Oman

My name is Sharouq, an English teacher from Oman. I started teaching seven years ago, and have taught in several schools since then. While some teachers may find this frequent change challenging, I see it as an opportunity. Moving between schools and classes has helped me gain more experience, both from working with other teachers and from interacting with students. Throughout my teaching career, I have encountered numerous students with varying abilities, and I believe that this has enhanced my skills as a teacher.

The most challenging period for me was working with Young Learners. A children’s teacher is a professional actor, as I had to act out every part of the lesson just to capture the pupils’ attention. Nonetheless, I had to constantly change the activities and methods of encouragement I used to keep their interest. Additionally, I had to adapt my language to their level, which was a struggle for me. The most problematic issue was classroom management, which I had forgotten about while teaching older classes, and that is why I now see myself as a teacher of higher grades. Currently, I am teaching ninth graders, which is a blast for me!

Despite the challenges I faced working with Young Learners, I can still say that I learnt a lot from them. Teaching them allowed me to reach my potential as both a teacher and task designer. I developed numerous teaching strategies from scratch to meet the unique needs of my students. While teaching children can be difficult, it is also incredibly joyful and productive.

Motivating the de-motivated

‘He’s difficult to deal with!’ These were the first words I heard about a kid in a grade four class I was appointed to teach years ago. Before my first meeting with the little kids, I talked to their previous teachers. I thought it was a good idea to learn a thing or two about my new students. All of the teachers commented on one particular student. The majority expressed his disruptive behaviour and how he made teaching and learning a big challenge. They believed that this kid, being hyperactive, could not learn and caused many classroom management problems.

Listening to teachers commenting on the kid’s behaviour and mentioning stories from the last three years, I felt a huge wave of challenge was approaching my teaching voyage! But I pulled myself together and entered the class for the first time.

My first impression was that this boy was really just like the other teachers were saying. I spent days suffering from his behaviour and lack of willingness to learn, but then I tried giving him extra attention. I engaged him in group tasks, gave him duties as my assistant and encouraged him to participate in daily lessons. Whenever I had the chance, I called him to my office and taught him how to read and write simple words.

Later, I noticed that he was capable of learning unlike what teachers had said before. The boy actually started to learn and his presence in class started to show. While I started to feel comfortable with his attitude in class, his teachers of other subjects were still struggling. I always found him sitting on my desk waiting for me after being sent out by other teachers. At the end of the semester his marks in English improved a lot. Sadly, his parents transferred him to a private school. This made me feel a big loss. He was my challenge that I believe I overcame.

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