Transformers - student becomes teacher

Recently we were asked if we could provide a 'non-teacher' speaker for a high school-aged class, and from a 'different' background. We immediately asked Rukshini...

This young lady's English is tremendous, and she is a wonderful ambassador for Sri Lanka (who, as I write, are giving England a cricketing lesson at Headingley!). She is also a poster girl for everything that is wrong with Japanese education...unable to get into uni (here) despite her academic talent, worldly perspective, driven nature and obvious smarts...having bashed her brains out all the way through JHS & HS and catching Jim's attention within seconds about 5 years ago.

Destined for great things - with FCE

"For the first time in my life, I had opportunity to speak in front of a class at M school, not as a student. I was nervous full of doubts. How are they going to react? What if I say something goes wrong?
 
It's so much easier to be the student!
 
Preparations for the presentation well. I had a lot of advice and I was adamant to try my best. It was fun to do all the planning from a different perspective , get the new ideas but the real job lay ahead.
 
The few minutes before the class, I was shaking, but the moment I started talking the tension vanished. I was actually enjoying myself. It was more like a conversation than a speech. Ms R was very supportive asking questions and encouraging the students.

My theme was to speak about life in Sri Lanka and Japan. How do I see things as a foreigner in Japan, things I've learned...So I was eager to talk. There is so much to tell and it kept me going. The students were shy, but I could tell they were interested. 

In the second period, we had a Sri Lankan tea-time and questions from each student. I had to think back on some of them. “What surprised me most in Japan?"
To tell the truth, there were too many !

At the end of the class some students even thanked me 😃
I know how difficult it is to learn a language, especially if it has nothing interesting. You need the spark, that desire to learn....and I wonder if I had given them that spark..

So, it's easy to be student but it's thrilling to be a teacher!
 
I am no longer nervous. I could say I got over the fence. I'm quite looking forward to the next one, and thanks to Luna for providing me this wonderful opportunity 😆"