My first day of English tutoring went really well. I thought getting to the class on time was going to be a problem but I ended up getting there early, the same time as all of the students. So there I was completely blending in with all of the Italian high school students, that with my uncertainty and anxiety written all over my face, I was mistaken for a new student. My mind went blank as soon as they started speaking to me in Italian asking if I needed help finding my class, although I knew exactly what they were saying to me my nerves got the best of me and so what came out of my mouth was close to “I am a volunteer to teach english” in broken Italian and of course I forgot the word for volunteer so I said it in English. The worker was so through by my trash Italian she asked a teacher for help because he could speak English. Thankfully that was the teacher I was assigned to. So after a super embarrassing encounter I tried my best to get myself together and give off mature/confident vibes. Walking to the classroom really calmed me down because the teacher was just walking me through what he was going to have me do and some things to expect from the class. I learned that my class was preparing for an English exam and they were required to take a number of their classes in English. They expected me to only speak to the students in English so they could get experience talking to a native English speaker.
When class started he first introduced me and had the class interview me by asking some questions about me. First the questions were pretty basic; name, age, hobbies, what I studied in school, then the answers moved “why would I want to come to Italy?f That question threw me a bit because I see Italy as such a magical place but to them Italy is so “old and boring”. They see America as a new country with all the new technology, one kid told me about how she went to New York and was amazed by how big and bright New York is. Now me when I think of New York I think of crowded and dirty, it is interesting to see America from an Italian perspective. Here they were trying to learn English and they thought my pursuit of learning Italian was pointless because I already knew English. Another jarring question was about the rivalry between Canada and America lol, who knew we had a rivalry? I told them I had never heard of that before and they all were surprised, apparently there is a tv series and a part of it focuses on our rivalry and it makes it seem like we hate each other.
I really enjoyed just talking and interacting with the students. When I left I even thought for a second that maybe I missed my calling as a teacher. But then I remembered that I hate repeating myself so that wouldn’t be a great idea lol. I would love to continue working with kids somehow though, maybe volunteering or something when I get back home. After answering all of my questions the teacher had me go around the class while the students spoke to help with vocabulary and prompts to keep the conversations flowing. I was impressed with how good their English was. Overall it was a great experience and I can’t wait to continue working with them.
Alexis Takes Italy 