A great example of an ESL teacher
Whether we like it or not, decent knowledge of the English language is a necessity and has become an important factor for anyone who wants to bag a well-paying job, believes Ramesha A from Kolar who runs Daffodils English Training Academy. You might think that it’s no big deal if a person is running an English academy but Ramesha’s story of what led him to start this academy is one for the books. Recalling his initial days, when he did not know a single word in English, he narrates, “Having studied in a Kannada medium school, I never took the English language seriously. I always found it tough and did not bother about it during exams except for trying really hard to score pass marks. In 2011, when I failed the second PUC exams, I was shocked. English was the reason I failed. Anyone in my place would have given up and taken it as an insult but my aim was to not give up learning English because I always wanted to secure a degree. I worked hard for a year to learn English, frame sentences correctly and finally, I passed the English language exam of second PUC in 2012.”
Within a year, Ramesha became sort of famous for passing the exam. What he did to achieve this milestone can serve as an example to many youngsters today. “For a year, I did not speak in Kannada with my family members. Though I spoke broken sentences and incorrect grammar, I continued to speak in English. My mother would laugh at me or get angry for not speaking Kannada at home. People treated me differently. They called me a mad person and yes, I was mad about learning something that I did not know.” When people began to ignore Ramesha, he would communicate with nature in English. He spoke to the trees, birds and animals around him. That’s how he improved his English and eventually passed the exams. “Students would ask me about the methods I used to learn English and how I passed the exams. I realised that many people want to learn English and I wanted to start classes for them. After I started pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Arts, I would take hour-long English classes for students who had failed in this subject. What started in a small room that day, today, it has become a new academy. That’s how Daffodils English Training Academy was born in 2016.”
Learn more about this topic by reading this article on EdexLive.
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