Saturday 15 September 2012

The stage


Life takes you through stages. Stages that define you. Stages, that define your choices. Stages, that at times, transform you. I may not be the best teacher to my students. I may not be someone cut out for teaching either but the experience from being a student of French to being a teacher of the same language has been immensely enriching.

This takes me back to the time when I began this journey...

I keep telling everyone that French happened to me like an accident. When everyone around me was filling out their M.A applications, I was struggling to figure out which road to choose. "A graduate in English doesn't really have many options in life to choose from" I always told myself. Considering that I picked up another language to keep myself engaged with something that sounds productive enough. Aastha, a very dear friend introduced me to French (for she was learning it at that time) and I can't thank her more for doing so.

This blog post will revolve around a very special person. She is someone I openly admire to the extent that I don't hesitate in admitting that I almost copy and imitate her teaching styles. 

My first professor of French, Arpita Dutta and her ways of teaching always inspired me in a way that I can't  explain. I remember my first class with her, and I remember how she used to explain the meanings of different words by jumping, hopping and doing all the crazy stuff in class. I remember how she'd never let us think in English. Almost, inadvertently, I saw myself doing the same with my students on my first class. I remembered my first class with her the day I began teaching my A1 students at the School of International language.

The feeling when your students frame their first sentence in a language otherwise unknown to them... it's inexplicable. I am neither earning bomb nor I am too fond of teaching but one thing that keeps me going is- the feeling that I am making a difference to their lives in whichever small-little way I can.

Today, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Arpita Dutta for making this "stage" possible in my life for she is the one who laid the foundation. :)

4 comments:

  1. Wow .. excellent post ! N infact, its the same scenario with me too. I am an engg. and i have completed my C1 level in french but frankly never thought that i would go so ahead. I had taken up french just to pursue something in life other than engg. But sometimes as they say, when things happen unexpectedly, they seem to be more beautiful. I too have posted an article on my journey with french. Do read it when u find time.

    http://www.ingenieurarjunparlefrancais.blogspot.in/2012/09/ingenieur-arjun-et-le-francais.html

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  2. Thankyou Monsieur ingenieur ;)

    I couldn't agree more! Reminds me of Harivansh Rai Bacchan's lines where he says, "gar tere mann ka ho toh acha. Jo tere mann ka na ho toh aur bhi acha." :D Life is super unpredictable at times, and that's where the fun begins.

    Let me read your post! :)

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  3. Amazing blog and very interesting stuff you got here! I definitely learned a lot from reading through some of your earlier posts as well and decided to drop a comment on this one!

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  4. Hey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.

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