what / you / like / do .

Do what you like.

Isn’t it a common advice you’ve been given by many different people in your life? Nobody doubts how true and important it is to do what pleases and makes you happy. I won’t be the one to deny it. But let’s think a little, shall we?

When I was younger, my dream job was to be in a band. As a teenager, the idea of composing songs, playing in different places, meeting new people. I’m pretty sure I was not the only one to dream about it.

I didn’t follow this path. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I tried for a while and noticed that I obviously lacked talent despite all the stamina and motivation. 

In my short and limited career of a guitarist in a punk band in the 90s, I realised that there were times I didn’t really enjoy the process. There were days that the last thing I wanted to do was rehearse. Rare but also true, there were times I didn’t even want to play.

The band was over but I still kept in my mind something that would help me measure how much I liked a job. I thought that my ideal job would be the one I’d long for on weekends. I had a romantic notion that I’d be a bit sad on a Friday because I’d miss work. I thought that I would daydream about work on a Saturday afternoon.

Now, this is not quite what happens in real life, is it? And there’s nothing wrong about it, to be honest. If you can’t wait for the weekend to come, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you hate your job.

Obvious as it may sound, I’d say that just as important as doing what you like is liking what you do. If you get to the bottom of it, you’ll see that your dream job could be the one you have now, even if you think it’s an impossible notion this one. But looking from different perspectives and making an effort to enjoy more what you already do, you might be able to invert the order of things.

You might find the 'a dream come true' might as well become 'truth becomes dream'.

When am I going to be fluent?

Perhaps the most common question I get from students who are taking or willing to take classes is this one. It is understandable and only fair that one should have an idea of how much time will be spent on the new, or not so new project.

The CommonEuropean Framework of Reference for Languages (C.E.F.R.) provides a good indication of how much time someone might spend to reach certain levels.

But this is as far as it goes in terms of trying to put language learning into numbers. The factors involved in language learning are not exactly mathematical.

For instance, let’s consider aptitude. This is the term that tries to explain why some people are naturally good at languages, whereas others are instinctively good at mathematics or physics. There are many questionnaires you can use to give you an idea, but it is rather difficult to get this information and cross reference it with the time you’ll need to learn.

The concept of ‘fluent’ itself is quite a subjective one. What do you consider to be a fluent second language speaker? Someone who speaks just like a native? Or someone who’s able to easily manage transactional interactions when travelling on holiday?

Some people manage to learn a second language without even being present in a classroom. In fact, this is how we all learn our first languages. Which leads to the question related to what use you’ll give to this new language you’re learning. For example: are you going to talk to your boss on a daily basis? Or are you learning to watch movies on the weekends? Of course, the more real and frequent the use, the quicker you might be able to learn. After all, languages are learned to be used. This is also related to how much time you’ll be in contact with the language outside class in many different contexts. It can be through listening to music, reading books, watching news reports or TV, for example.

Another key point to be considered is your level of motivation. It is quite standard to find two kinds: intrinsic motivation (e.g. “I really want to learn a new language”) and extrinsic motivation (e.g. “My boss really wants me to learn a new language”).

There are many other points to be considered, we could go on for quite a while. So maybe the best and most honest response I can give you is something like this: “I don’t know. I can give you some general numbers to consider, but at the end of the day, it is I who ask you how long you’re going to take to get there. How many hours do you have available? How much money are you willing to invest in your learning? What motivates you? …”

That is why you should be somehow sceptical when someone promises you’ll learn within 12 months. I’m not saying it’s a lie, of course you can learn in a year. I’m just saying it is a quite risky assumption.

Enemies-in-law

Someone once told me that the quickest way to make enemies is by following the law. Let me explain before you think I'm suggesting that we should all be criminals to have friends.

Suppose you have a client. Suppose your client made a mistake and forgot to pay you for a service. Your company has a rule: after three days, the client will be visited by a third party who's now responsible for receiving the money, with interest and penalties, of course. Suppose this client had paid all his debts regularly, and that he didn't pay a specific one. He didn't pay $100. Now he owes you $130. And this is a client who would come back to work with your company again. Many times.

Question: would you follow the 'law'? Or would you call your client and ask him if he forgot to pay?

My supplier followed the law. Are they wrong? Not really. Am I still their client? Absolutely not.

Good teaching?

When I first started teaching, I really wanted to do the best I could, just like everything else, just like everyone else.  Through the years, I asked myself what it takes to be a good teacher. I’ve been through some steps until I reached the point of view I have now. Maybe this impression will change. Hopefully it will.

At the beginning, I was pretty much thrown to the wolves. Sorry, to the students, I mean. Boy, was it hard. It was a group of 6-year-olds. I’m pretty sure I was more scared than they were. Then I was given some adults, and some teens, and whatever age there could possibly be.

I guessed that I made most students like me, and that was enough for me. With this impression that I was building good rapport with my students, I instantly thought I was a pretty good teacher. It didn’t take long for me to realise that this conclusion was based on one single fact: ignorance.

When I started studying more about teaching, taking courses, paying extra attention to my classes, reading methodology books, I realised that the ‘straightforward’ job I had been doing was full of information, theory, ideas and opinions that supported every single thing teachers do in class.

One thing that really got to me was that having a good time, entertaining students, and making students were having their share of fun was not enough. I dropped from a ‘king of the universe’ status to ‘I have absolutely no idea of what I’m doing’ stage.

I started paying attention to every detail in my lessons, trying to build a repertoire of methodologies, techniques and activities. I even had a special part on my notebook reserved for good ideas in teaching.

After this phase, I started feeling more confident in my teaching again, and suddenly realised that after every semester of classes, I had a very clear notion that I improved as a teacher. It’s quite a good feeling to be certain that in 6 months from now, I’ll be in a much better place as a professional. The idea of being a good teacher became having good days and bad days, and that by minimising the latter was my goal.

I still think that there are good lessons and bad lessons, as opposed to good teachers and bad teachers. The balance between success and failure in the classroom is what counts for me.

But I am still convinced that a good teacher is 101% people oriented. To me, that’s the main thing. Someone who’s sensitive enough to read body language, facial expressions, tone of voice. Someone who clearly knows who likes him and who doesn’t. Someone who makes an effort to build a good relationship with those students who didn’t ‘buy your fish’ from day one. Someone who knows when it’s time to focus, and when it’s time to have fun. When students can be pushed, and when they need a break. Of course all this can be learnt, but for me it goes through behaviour rather than information.

Training as a means of information exchange can make you better, of course. You can become a better good teacher or a better bad teacher.

As for me, I can’t say on which side of the coin I am. What I do know is that I try really hard to be on the good one. I also know that there are plenty of excellent bad teachers out there.

TED - BEAUTY

Our first video!

Endless Push

Since I’ve started my own business, it’s an amazing fact how many times I’ve found myself struggling with what seems to be quite obvious things.

The last one I’ve noticed is the importance of setting goals and trying to visualise scenarios for the future. See? Told you. Pretty obvious, isn’t it? I did it, and I thought it was enough. We even started having meeting every Monday to set up the goals in different areas for that week. But then I’ve found myself unhappy with the results so far. And being quite honest, I should not be disappointed. Far from it, actually.

But the thing is that what got stuck in my mind are the long-term goals. I’m really focusing on where I’d like to be in a year for now. Good? Yes and no. The problem of sticking to these global aims is that you lose sight of the smaller ones. It means that if you’re aiming at 100 in a year from now, you don’t celebrate if you reach 50 in only one month.

So here I am with reasonably good results, dreaming about the excellent ones, and with the constant feeling that there is still a lot to do to get where I want. Not a pleasant felling at all, I can tell you that. Someone told me I have to be patient. I think they’re right. But more than being patient, I guess I must be more realistic.

Interestingly enough, this realisation came from what I wrote in the last post. I asked myself a couple of times: ‘happy?’. ‘Not at all” were my conclusions. Why? After ruminating and considering many different and intricate causes, I asked myself if I was too tired, if the long hours were the problem, even if I wasn’t happy wearing a suit to work. Go figure where you mind takes you when you’re trying to find solutions.

But as it’s usually the case, the answer is right in front of you. It’s difficult to accept it because it’s so obvious it makes you feel a little stupid. You think ‘seriously?’ Yes, seriously! Which means that how hard you push is probably less important than how much you have to push. In other words, I guess it’s easier to run a marathon one kilometre at a time, rather than going for a 42km sprint. Simple, stupid, obvious and true.

_ A _ _Y?

Starting a company is hard work. Couldn’t be more cliché than that to start this post. When some people asked me a few months ago if I would be able to deal with the company, my studies (I’m currently doing my Distance DELTA Module 2 – a diploma in teaching English as a second language) and my wedding party, which is in December, all together. I replied “yes” with a big smile on my face, and with that inner feeling of “I’m really going for it”.

And then reality comes. Working from 7am to 9pm every day, no time to have lunch, spending a lot of time stuck in traffic, doing whatever I have to do in front of the PC on Saturdays, working on my DELTA on Sundays, with very little money in my bank account, my car is now the bank’s car, no salary, running to and fro helter-skelter, anxiety levels roller-coaster like. And yet, this is probably the best job I’ve ever had.

But now I do understand when a former boss of mine, who owns the company I worked for, said: “If I knew how much work it would be, I wouldn’t do it again. When I realized it, it was already too late to turn back”. Interesting, but hopefully I won’t get there. Hopefully.

And then I was listening to the Brazilian swimmer Cesar Cielo on the radio today, after he won his 3^rd gold medal in the 50m free style. A journalist asked what it takes to cope with the insane amount of practising and training every day. Interestingly enough, he said that he needed to be happy, just that. He said he couldn’t possibly go through all he has to do in one year to swim those few seconds if he’s not happy. I guess that the thought of a training session might be enough to depress someone in a gray Monday morning.

I get it. And I agree with it. There were mornings when I’ve asked myself: “Why am I doing this to myself? I really liked my old job. Money wasn’t a plus, but definitely not a big issue.”  But the good feeling of a productive and effective working day makes a great difference.

I’ve already included in my daily agenda some routine reminders, such as: “how can I be memorable today?”, “what have you done about sales today?”, “pay the bills, chief!”, “plan your lessons”…

Guess I’ll add this one now: “Happy?”.

Your Problem is My Problem

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the logical process of companies is to try to understand the market and its potential consumers, and based on what they find out and/or feel, they offer a product or service that is intended to satisfy their customers’ needs.

“Observe/understand market – create products or services – offer these products – satisfy customers’ needs, desires” more or less represents this process.

But what happens at the end of this line is that customers’ needs change, or often enough, companies don’t get it quite right. Or even if they do get it right, there will be customers who will not have their needs met by the products/services offered. It’s just impossible to offer everything that all customers want, it doesn’t matter how hard you try. In these cases, directly or not, the companies tell these customers that they can’t offer what they’re looking for. Simple, that’s life, sorry, maybe next time.

I try to think from a slightly different perspective. Try, because despite its simplicity, it’s something incredibly difficult to implement.

I try to think that a person that gets in touch with my company has a problem, and this person is calling us because he/she thinks that we might be able to solve the problem. We offer services, and we have a good degree of flexibility to adapt ourselves to meet what is required by our clients. Of course, there are many occasions in which we simply can’t offer enough.

But before offering a group of solutions, I like to think that it’s better to offer something like this: “We’ll do what we can to solve your problem”. “Is there any difference?”, you might ask. I say there is a huge one. Today, for example, I woman called looking for English classes for her 4-year-old daughter. We focus on business English for adults, no quite our area to solve this woman’s problem. According to the perspective I’ve just mentioned, we should have asked more about her needs, having promptly offered the name and phone number of a school that could offer the kind of classes she was looking for, even better if next to her house, and with good credentials. We didn’t. That’s why I say we try.

What happens is that this supposed school for children is also our competitor, because they also offer classes for adults. Should we not mention it then? I believe we should. I believe that we should try our best to help whoever gets in touch with us, even if it includes recommending our competitors.

I’m not being naïve in thinking that we might not lose customers. I am perfectly aware that we will. However, I believe that the attitude of solving problems reflects in many different areas within the company, and it becomes a constant reminder that we should focus on the customer first.

I’m absolutely certain I’m not being innovative here, but I’m quite sure that this idea is as obvious as it is easily forgettable.

Find Motivation x Realize Motivation

I was reading an interesting document on good language learners this week, trying to find a way to tell my students how they can become ‘good language learners’ and consequently boost their learning process. I’ve become interested in understanding why some people manage to learn a second language so quickly, whereas others struggle to make progress.

The quickest conclusion I’ve heard people say is related to intelligence: “my brother is so smart, he never does his homework, but he only gets straight As and speaks with a very good pronunciation”. The second argument is aptitude, I’ve found myself saying many times “some people are good with languages, others with mathematics”.

Ok, fair enough. Let’s suppose the statements above are true, then what to do if your IQ is not the highest one in class? Or if you realise that languages are not exactly your cup of tea? Give up the idea of learning a second language? Don’t think so, right?

In my opinion, and I’m a hundred percent sure I’m not alone, motivation is a key aspect to be considered, but it is a rather subjective concept, difficult to be applied in practice. What can I say to a student: “Find motivation to improve your results?”.

So I’ve tried to be practical, and came up with some interesting thoughts (interesting for me, at least!). If we use our first example, the brother who’s really good at languages without studying, we might find out that he spends a lot of his time in front of a computer playing online games. And guess what? He must chat in English when he plays.

If we investigate the second example a little bit further, we might find out that someone who shows great aptitude for learning English is crazy about the Beatles.

We might come to a rather obvious and common place solution: language is only relevant if it’s used. There’s no purpose in learning a language that you won’t use. So it’s not a matter of finding the motivation to study a language that really matters. It’s probably just as difficult as trying to find a meaning to our lives or the Holy Grail (pardon the cliché exaggeration).

Instead, for me it’s a lot easier if ask yourself one question: What are my favourite hobbies? What do I really love doing? Not so difficult to find some answers. If you know what you like to do to have fun, then the next step is asking yourself if you can do it in a second language. Of course, if your favourite leisure activity is playing football, it you’ll be weird to see you celebrating your goal in a different language, but you can still find matches to watch on TV or youtube in virtually any language.

But if you try to make a short list of things you like doing, I’m sure you’ll find something useful. For example:

·        Cooking? What about trying out new recipes in a different language?

·         Reading books? No need to comment here.

·         Reading the newspaper? Plenty of free options out there.

·         Jogging? Choosing a good soundtrack might help.

·         Mobile phone games? Have you tried scrabble?

I could go on forever, from the most obvious ones (movies, songs, books, newspapers, online news, magazines, podcasts,…) to the not so obvious (recipes, manuals, martial arts lessons on youtube, online chatting, horoscope,…)

When you change perspective and first focus on what you like doing, the association with language learning becomes a pleasant one, as you’re doing what you like rather than learning a new language. It just so happens that your interests now come in a different format.

You don’t have to necessarily find motivation. It’s a lot easier to use the motivations you already have.