Just call me Frau Professor

… and don’t forget to do your homework!

The funny thing is, I never thought of teaching as a career for myself. I suspected that I didn’t have the temperament or patience (picture a classroom full of pubescent pranksters!), and felt uncomfortable about the prospect of being asked a question to which I didn’t know the answer. After all, teachers are supposed to know, right?

Flash forward to my life as an ESL trainer—which is what we’re called here—and I find that teaching English is the ideal combination of personal, professional, and social satisfaction for me. But teaching business English to company executives and employees is one thing; teaching university students is something else entirely.

When I first met with the head of the English department at Webster University (an American university based in St. Louis with campuses all around the world), it was an informational interview, with no specific discussion about a teaching position. However, as my continuing good fortune would have it, the new academic director had just begun an initiative to ramp up their ESL program and so they needed new teachers. After conducting a demo lesson, (a ‘screen test’ if you will,) I was hired as an adjunct professor for the first Fall semester, which began on August 22^nd.

As is apparently the case all over, but which I did not know, adjuncts are hired on the basis of their credentials and experience, and expected to develop their own syllabi. Never having done this before, I had to dive in, research, create, modify, and finally submit and post my syllabus for the course in Intermediate Reading and Writing Skills. My obsession for detail and structure also drove me to develop creative lessons and exercises and to prepare extensively for my classes, which were held three times a week. Of course I also had to write and grade midterm and final exams, as well as many homework assignments.

Hard work and long hours, yes. But you know, I loved it. I had a total of 24 students, divided into two sessions (the school’s class size limit is 15), and it was both fascinating and rewarding getting to know them. They ranged in age from 17 to 21, and came from Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Russia. In one sense, many of them had already experienced a lot in their lives, including wars, earthquakes and floods—even if they were still young children at the time.

On the other hand, they were in general extremely conservative socio-politically, and  still quite naïve academically. Despite many years of studying English in their home countries, most were really not ready for university-level courses in English, which is why and how they ended up in my class!

The semester ended a couple of weeks ago, and I’m on a bit of a break right now, although I’m still teaching my business English students. The good news is, I received positive course evaluations and have already been contracted to teach a full year of  courses next year, starting in mid-January. This means that a ‘cornerstone’ of my income is assured, which I hope to supplement extensively with business English lessons through the language schools and privately.

I can hardly believe that it's already 10 months since I moved. The U.S. seems both like yesterday and so long ago. I’ve felt at home here since the very beginning, but in addition to teaching, there’s been a lot to do just to set up my new life, and so I haven’t availed myself of too many cultural—or even tourist—activities.

But as Vienna heads into the November/December holiday season, tons of concerts, exhibits, special markets and all manner of festive activities are scheduled throughout the city, and I aim to do my best to partake of as many as I can. Care to join me?