Look, we’re not shrinks, psychologists or therapists but, as teachers, we do have to deal with a lot of anxiety. Sometimes is our own (you’d think?), but many times our ESL learners bring it to the class. Totally understandable, as many are new comers to Canada or international students whose lives literally depend on the results of an English proficiency test, or people preparing for an interview, or, nowadays, anyone who has been in isolation for some time! The minimum we can do is to acknowledge and respect the underlying worries (which we do!). At EAP Teachers we take it a bit further. As most of our teachers are immigrants themselves (and most of them mothers), we often use our storytelling abilities to share success stories which can bring inspiration and address some common fears. And it works every time! We pride ourselves with purposefully creating a uniquely friendly (and calming) learning environment. Since we had such a great success with that, we are planning to bring to you some conversations we had (and intend on keep having) with people from all walks of life willing to share their stories with us – a new series of videos called “My two cents”, coming soon so stay tuned! And please worry less – there is always light at the end of the tunnel!
