These days, it’s common to see native-speaking English teachers in both the public and private education sectors in Korea.
I found myself thinking about my first native-speaking English teacher. It was back in 1997 during my middle school years. As part of a pilot of the Department of Education, native-speaking English teachers were temporarily assigned to public middle school. The teacher who came to our school was a young African American woman named Tonya Jefferson.
I only had a few classes with her, during a period of just over a month. I didn’t fully understand everything she said in English. But she was ahead of the curve with her fashion-forward leggings, and she always greeted us with a bright smile. I remember it all as if it were yesterday.
find oneself thinking about - become aware that you are thinking about something, without conscious intent
be ahead of the curve - faster about doing something than other people, companies, etc
요즘은 우리나라 공교육과 사교육에서 원어민 영어 선생님을 흔히 볼 수 있다.
그러다 문득 내 첫 원어민 영어 선생님이 생각났다. 내가 중학교에 다닐 때인 1997년이었다. 교육부 시범 사업의 일환으로 원어민 영어 교사가 공립 중학교에 한시적으로 배정되었다. 우리 학교에 오신 분은 토냐 제퍼슨이라는 젊은 아프리카계 미국인 여성이었다.
나는 한 달 남짓한 기간 동안 그녀와 몇 번의 수업만 함께 했다. 나는 그녀가 영어로 하는 말을 완전히 이해하지 못했다. 하지만 그녀는 유행에 앞서가는 레깅스를 입고 항상 밝은 미소로 우리를 맞이했다. 그 모든 것이 어제 일처럼 생생하게 기억난다.
- You don’t need to fully understand everything at first. / He explained it so that I could fully understand everything.
- The strategy allowed the company to stay ahead of the curve. / Innovation is needed to stay ahead of the curve.
- The employees always greet guests with a bright smile. / I try to greet everyone with a bright smile, even when I’m tired.
A: Your daughter seems to be comfortable speaking with the native-speaking English teacher.
B: Oh, she is crazy about him.
A: He must treat her very well.
B: He’s the first native-speaking teacher my daughter has ever met.
A: I see. He must be very special to her.
B: I still remember my first native-speaking teacher, back when I was young.
