Savoring and Learning

" Aprender não comporta imperativo: só se aprende por prazer e por vontade própria"

Last week I had a wonderful surprise; one of my learners, Alfredo, had written his hundredth letter in English (every day he writes me an e-mail about all sorts of subjects that he feels like writing) and he was the proof that I am not wrong for believing that my learners can learn much more by themselves if they have the right attitude.

Most teachers, specially in this country, claim that some people can learn a second language, some others can not. They divide the classes in those who will learn (easy learners, English background, home work doers, etc) and the ones who will never learn. According to them, the latter are the useless cases due to the fact that they don't have familiarity with the English learning process, therefore, they should either quit their classes or pick any other course.

Well, in my opinion, those teachers (if they are real tutors) are very discouraged by thousands and thousands of students cases who pay for their English courses and treat their teachers with disrespect by canceling their classes at the eleventh hour and having all sort of behaviors typical from people who act like that because they believe that by paying their courses, they can treat the teachers as their maiden. As a matter of fact, most students are like that and they don't want to comprehend that they have to do their part in the learning process; however, most of my students (yes, I still have some students in my school) are real learners; those pupils who work very hard to understand their difficulties and most important of all, they learn it through a savoring attitude.

Those learners come to their classes well prepared with their read texts and done activities proposed by the teachers; they are part of their classes because they are integrated with the proposal of working together with their teachers to learn English once for all.

Amazingly, they do it not because they have to, they keep doing that because learning English is a real target in their lives and they know how to make the most out of their courses.

Paying an English class and having a teacher is not a guarantee that you are going to learn it. If you are one of those people who have always paid English courses in your life and you can't speak it properly yet, obviously there is something wrong. Therefore, It is the high time for the real learning and it starts not by promising unrealistic activities ( I will start it tomorrow and etc) , but by questioning yourself:

• Why don't I have will to study?

• Why don't have discipline at all?

• Why am I so lazy?

• What is wrong with my attitudes towards my English goal?

• For how long will I procrastinate it?

If you have the courage to ask yourself those question, you will probably do the same thing as some former students who have sent me an e-mail after reading about Alfredo.

- Ok, teacher! I want to follow Alfie's steps. What do I have to do?

- How about start writing to me and for you?

Professor Frank