ENGLISH AND ME

To begin with this topic I would like to narrate my first contact with the English language at the age of twelve.

My dear mum enrolled my old sister and me in a small English class with a Navarrian teacher (I mean from Pamplona) married to an English man.

In those days, I am talking about thirty-two years ago, English was considered almost an exotic language, at least in a small village located in the Iberian inland. We were twelve students and I can clearly recall the first words I listened in the strange idiom. They were: “Meet Sandy and Sue”. Believe it or not, it was later on when I discovered the way these enigmatic sounds were written...

At the age of twenty I started to study in order to become an English Primary teacher. I was really motivated with the English subject. Fortunately, in my second year I had an English teacher who taught us didactic and phonetics aspects of English language acquisition ( also rhythm and intonation). She developed on me the hidden teaching vocation. In addition to this I discovered the great pleasure to read English authors in their original. In those days I enjoyed Patricia Highsmith's novels, Roald Dahl's short stories and the overnight success literary work Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

I was able to achieved success finishing the teacher career in six years which is not really a great success considering other students completed it in three years. For me, in those days, that was good enough.

Later on, in 1994, I managed to gain the position of Primary teacher in the Balears competitive exams.

This academic year I have decided to make a pause in my profession. I really needed to slow down for a long period of time, considering I was director of studies in a school during six years. This is the main reason I have decided to continue with my English training and must finally say I am really happy with the classes!