A Strange School
Schools... they are here to educate each of us. But to some degree, even sometimes schools are quite incomprehensible. Take this one school. Let's call it... Dark. It's an "English school". Why do I quote it? Well, for just that reason. They "say" they are an English school, but I am still a bit wary about it. Let me tell you my story.
I got a phone call a few days ago before I started teaching one of my classes. A lady was on the other line. She was calling me in response to my resume I had sent to their office. )Note: I sent my resume to several different places, and it was all basically the same: some note, my resume, and a current photo, maybe I included an educational essay I had written. And mind you, everything was written in clear English.) This lady is on the line and doesn't bat an eye before she starts away in her native language, Czech, expecting me to catch everything... I did... She quickly proceeded to explain to me who she was and for what company she works for and that she is "in charge" of prospective employees. She asked me a minimal number of questions about myself and told me that before anything, I would have to come in and take an "English test". A perplexing moment for me when I think that it's clear that through everything I sent them, and them obviously knowing the fact that I am a native speaker, that I should also come in and take an "English test" (you will find out my use of quotation marks soon enough). I thought it quite funny and continued on and was actually quite looking forward to such a possibility. I thought it would be some normal grammar sentences and I would be in and out in 15 or 20 minutes.
After our conversation, I went and looked at their website to find quite a credible school. They have flourished quite well after 15 years or so of existence and have even expanded to 13 different cities around the nation. Sounds quite good. But one thing did strike me as strange. The fact that there wasn't any English version to this website. I find it odd that such a prestigious English school wouldn't have even a small English translated version, since clearly, they ARE an English school.
But I digress. I travelled the next day to Prague to take my exam. I was quite excited and eager to for my exam, but still not totally understanding the exact reason and importance to know how well an American can speak English. I arrived to a healthy greeting of a few of the office workers (none of which spoke English). They explained to me the test and I was off to work. But... what was this?... an English test?... with so few English words?... I looked quizzically at this test, and jumped into it. The first part... translation. Translate from Czech to English... ok, I can do that, but I don't really understand the importance of why I should have to. Next, translate English to Czech... still not sure why it's important for teaching English in an "English Only" classroom. But, ok. Next part, translate the following 35 sentences from Czech to English. Ok, now this is ridiculous. I can speak English perfectly. Fluently even. Why do I have to translate from Czech to English? I did, and quite well, I think.
Then come the essay questions... in Czech... Quite unnecessary for me I thought. But I continued. The entire process was a bit ridiculous I felt, but an experience, nonetheless. Thankfully, it's over now, and I don't know if I will ever fully understand the process to employment at this "English school".
I got a phone call a few days ago before I started teaching one of my classes. A lady was on the other line. She was calling me in response to my resume I had sent to their office. )Note: I sent my resume to several different places, and it was all basically the same: some note, my resume, and a current photo, maybe I included an educational essay I had written. And mind you, everything was written in clear English.) This lady is on the line and doesn't bat an eye before she starts away in her native language, Czech, expecting me to catch everything... I did... She quickly proceeded to explain to me who she was and for what company she works for and that she is "in charge" of prospective employees. She asked me a minimal number of questions about myself and told me that before anything, I would have to come in and take an "English test". A perplexing moment for me when I think that it's clear that through everything I sent them, and them obviously knowing the fact that I am a native speaker, that I should also come in and take an "English test" (you will find out my use of quotation marks soon enough). I thought it quite funny and continued on and was actually quite looking forward to such a possibility. I thought it would be some normal grammar sentences and I would be in and out in 15 or 20 minutes.
After our conversation, I went and looked at their website to find quite a credible school. They have flourished quite well after 15 years or so of existence and have even expanded to 13 different cities around the nation. Sounds quite good. But one thing did strike me as strange. The fact that there wasn't any English version to this website. I find it odd that such a prestigious English school wouldn't have even a small English translated version, since clearly, they ARE an English school.
But I digress. I travelled the next day to Prague to take my exam. I was quite excited and eager to for my exam, but still not totally understanding the exact reason and importance to know how well an American can speak English. I arrived to a healthy greeting of a few of the office workers (none of which spoke English). They explained to me the test and I was off to work. But... what was this?... an English test?... with so few English words?... I looked quizzically at this test, and jumped into it. The first part... translation. Translate from Czech to English... ok, I can do that, but I don't really understand the importance of why I should have to. Next, translate English to Czech... still not sure why it's important for teaching English in an "English Only" classroom. But, ok. Next part, translate the following 35 sentences from Czech to English. Ok, now this is ridiculous. I can speak English perfectly. Fluently even. Why do I have to translate from Czech to English? I did, and quite well, I think.
Then come the essay questions... in Czech... Quite unnecessary for me I thought. But I continued. The entire process was a bit ridiculous I felt, but an experience, nonetheless. Thankfully, it's over now, and I don't know if I will ever fully understand the process to employment at this "English school".
posted by Zach Barnes at 9:53 AM
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