It feels amazing to discover a skill you din’t realise you had. this happened to us when Chris, a Mexican hotel owner, asked us in 2012 if we could not only build his new website but also teach english to his hotel staff. We had never taught English before and our level of spanish was still not very high but way not give it a try?!
More rewarding then anything
For three months we gathered the entire of Hotel Baxar in Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco for their afternoon of English. With the help of the internet we created a three month course personalised to the level of english of each of our fifteen students. All of them learned the basics: how to introduce yourself, tell a little bit about your family, where you are from etc. But they also learned specific types of words, sentences and conversations relevant to their job in the hotel. The girls at the reception we trained to give a tour around the hotel. The cleaning ladies learned how to explain all the different items in the room and answer basic question and the waiters learned the entire menu and some catchy phrases to increase their tips.
Personalized exam
Because we believe that everybody learns at their own pace and with their own set of capabilities, we created a personalised exam for every individual student. We tracked their progress and their efforts for three months and based on this we set the bar for the exam in the last week. It was quite fulfilling to see how much progress they had made, each on their own manner. Some came from knowing no english at all and being able to start a conversation and introduce themselves where others were able to really converse and answer difficult work field related questions.
We had an amazing time a english teachers and we are very thankful that Chris gave us this opportunity. It proved to us that skills to change peoples lifes sometimes can be dormant but right in front of your eyes. We learned that experimenting is the key to discovering yourself and your life’s purpose.