Classes with Elena - by Gavin — Gavin English Teacher

Hello Elena

I had already been teaching English online for a number of years before I was contacted by an energetic, friendly and enthusiastic Muscovite lady called Elena. She told me that we could work together – she would organise online group classes (made up of largely Russian speaking students), and I would teach them.

Initial challenges

Lessons weren’t so easy in the beginning as I had to get the hang of the new technology and teaching a group instead of one-on-one lessons. I remember once Elena had arranged a group class of 4 absolute beginners. I have experience of teaching beginners, but I need to know the names of the students so that I can address them and ask them very basic questions. When I joined the zoom meeting, I saw on my screen 4 elderly women – each of them with their name written in the Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet below them on Zoom. I wanted to say something like ‘Hi Maria, how are you?’, but I couldn’t read their bloody names! I was flustered and didn’t know what to say, meanwhile these 4 baffled babushkas stared at me, occasionally saying things to each other in Russian that I didn’t understand. I called Elena and she saved me by getting them to rewrite their names in the Latin alphabet.

Since those early days, I have learnt a lot about online group classes and about teaching people from this language group.

*If I remember correctly - the ‘4 baffled babushkas’ looked a bit like this photo from google*

Generosity

*This beautiful drawing of St. Petersburg was a gift from one of my students*

Thanks to Elena, I have been introduced to people from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Russia and Kazakhstan. One thing that stands out about these people is their generosity. Over the years, they have showered me with gifts from their native lands – chocolates, cakes, vodkas, tea-cups, t-shirts, tea towels, books, pin badges, drawings.

The belly-dancer

Perhaps the most memorable gift I received was a gift from Elena herself. She told me she had got me a birthday present, and that I could access the present at exactly 11am on Tuesday next week by clicking on the Zoom link that she had emailed me. What could this present possibly be?!

On Tuesday at 11am, I sat down next to my computer and opened the link. I was alone for a couple of minutes, until I was joined (in the virtual Zoom meeting) by a half-naked Russian belly dancer. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. At first I burst out laughing because it was a genuinely funny situation. After a couple of minutes of watching this friendly Russian woman prancing around her living room in nothing but a bikini and a pair of fairy wings, I stopped finding it funny but forced myself to continue smiling and chuckling in order to try and make the whole thing a bit less awkward. My cheek muscles began to tire. At one stage, she started clapping and urged me to do the same, which I did for a while but then stopped in case my wife came into the room to investigate how I was spending my Tuesday morning.

Fascination

Largely sparked by the lovely relationships I have built over the years with these particular students, I have become fascinated with their part of the world. I’ve dabbled with some Russian literature – some of which I enjoyed, some of which went over my head. What has really gripped me has been an obsession with the history of the Soviet Union. Anything remotely related to the Soviet Union is of great interest to me – I read books, I listen to podcasts, I attend lectures, I relentlessly interrogate my students who lived in this time, and I watch movies.

For my most recent birthday, my wife gave me free rein to choose whatever movie I wanted for us to watch. I chose ‘The Death of Stalin’. A less perfect wife would have complained that I had chosen another boring movie about the Soviet Union, but what a wonderful wife I have – throughout the entire movie she didn’t complain once… partly because it was my birthday, partly because she was asleep.

Thanks Elena, and thanks also to all of the lovely students I have met from this part of the world.

This is a list of key vocabulary and expressions from the article in order of how useful they are. The student must choose 6 items from the list to study in the lesson.

In case

To force (someone to do something)

Enthusiastic

Partly

To stare (at someone/ something)

Bloody

Awkward

I had already been teaching English online for a number of years before I was contacted

Throughout

To urge (someone to do something)

To spark (something)

R elentless