"I'm not a teacher: only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead - ahead of myself as well as you.” ~George Bernard Shaw
| I remember vividly the first time I taught a class. It was the summer of 1992 at the Universidad Laboral in Gijón, Asturias, as part of the Spanish Language and Cultural Studies Program hosted for European students by Universidad de Oviedo. The anticipation and anxiety I felt then still reverberate in my practices today. First day of school will always be an exhilarating event for me! As I was preparing to meet my students at Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University (SPbPU), my mind was racing to the speed of sound and my heart was pounding: would I be able to connect with their hearts? would the material I curated for them with such care be appealing? how would I manage to engage every learner in our conversations? |  Санкт-Петербургский государственный политехнический университет |
I walked through campus for a while before my first class, breathing the university air –even in another language, with different matices, it felt familiar. It was time. I timidly entered the room and felt observed with curiosity, certainly did not perceive a sign of reservation, and I went on: ‘hello, my name is Nuria, we will be working together this semester exploring matters of intercultural literacy, language identity and storytelling. It is an honor to be here with you, and look forward to learning from your perspectives and creating together a space where all views and opinions are welcome and respected. I want to heartily thank you for this opportunity. Now, please, tell me about yourselves…”
and with this prelude, SPbPU students began to share insights about their lives and their dreams, some with more confidence than others, but all with an elegant cadence in the way they uttered the English sentences. I was captivated. They are linguists and study several languages, they have a deep appreciation for language diversity and understand that the world does not end at the Russian borders. They are willing to examine their own cultural beliefs in light of new perspectives, they are courageous. I feel fortunate to have such inspiring teachers!
and with this prelude, SPbPU students began to share insights about their lives and their dreams, some with more confidence than others, but all with an elegant cadence in the way they uttered the English sentences. I was captivated. They are linguists and study several languages, they have a deep appreciation for language diversity and understand that the world does not end at the Russian borders. They are willing to examine their own cultural beliefs in light of new perspectives, they are courageous. I feel fortunate to have such inspiring teachers!
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