Evening classes are finished

Here are some of the students from my evening class at Brookes University. On the last night of class, we decided to have an "extended speaking practice lesson" at the Angel and Greyhound pub in St Clements Street. Left to right: Michael (Poland), Esperanca (Mozambique), me, Stefan and Miroslav (Slovakia), and Kasia (Poland). On the other side of the table are...


Kasia (again), Bibi and her visiting parents (Slovakia), Viera (Slovakia), Lorena (Spain), and Gladys (Bolivia). Unable to attend the celebration was Abed from Jordan, who had labwork to do for another class.

I really like teaching these classes. The students are motivated and dedicated to learning--and they pay the fees themselves, which means that they actually have a vested interest in learning something! It's not that they're being forced to attend by their parents. They're generally pleasant and ask lots of good questions, as they have real-world experience using English (most of them are working in Oxford at the time) and can bring to the lessons their personal experiences with the language. So it's not an academic exercise for them.

In fact, most of them have university degrees from their home countries, but because of their English levels, they're finding it difficult to find professional jobs in England--so many of them are working in kitchens or as cleaners while they study English. Imagine how motivated they are, as their English is the main thing keeping them from working in the professional field for which they've been trained. For example, Gladys is a qualified dentist in Bolivia! She only needs to raise her English level, and then she'll be able to work as a dentist in England. Nice. Wish I could continue teaching these classes... but maybe next year.