In my opinion, the most important 
traits of an English teacher are
firmness (the
unwavering
trunk) and
adaptability (the
flowing
crown).
Granted, many will
claim that traits such as being “friendly,”
“dynamic,” “native” and/or “well-prepared” are the
skeleton
key to being a good teacher,
but I feel that none of these
isolated
features on their own can
surpass the paired
power of the
long-term
determination and/or the
willingness to
undergo a
transformation
in order to
bring one about in another ().
Each and every student is a
complex human being who responds differently to
diverse
personalities, situations and
methods.
The same thing can be said about groups of students, which
are often a
hodge-podge of ages, needs, wants, abilities and levels. To
complicate
things
even more, un-centered, passive or
wishy-washy students (and teachers) can easily
over-adapt when
confronted with
contrary classmates (or students) causing the first to
yield too much to the
latter.
Then too,
third-parties such as school administrators, human resource
directors, the Ministry of Education and even the students’
own
alter egos can
impose
further restrictions and
impediments on teachers causing them to
resort to less than satisfactory
means to
achieve their
ends.
In other words, in order for education to take place and
for students to actually learn English, both students and
teachers must commit to a transformation (the adapting) to
each other without giving up too much of themselves (the perseverance).
Adapting to particular situations can be difficult and time-consuming
and therefore the root cause of much suffering (the weeping).
However, the upshot of this is that this commitment to a personal
transformation actually really helps one to better learn the
subject at hand, in this case English.
Bear in mind that there is no such thing as a satisfactory
superficial education,
at least in my experience.
According to William Glasser, the psychiatrist who founded
Reality Therapy, “We learn 10% of what we read, 20% of what
we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we both hear and
see, 70% of what is discussed, 80% of what we experience personally,
95% of what we teach to someone else.” (Hogies
Gifted Quotes)
That is, the
more we are committed to being transformed by a matter the
better we learn it. Also, a
corollary of this is that an
unwillingness to get very deep into a subject is often symptomatic
of a chronic failure to learn a subject such as English well.
To sum it up, the Weeping Willow is the analogy that best
characterizes for me what being a good teacher is all about.
Furthermore, these characteristics of a good teacher also
apply to being a good student. In fact, I think that the best
teachers should love learning, but that is a matter that would
best be left for another article.
Vocabulary
Paragraph 1
Weeping – crying, tears (or drops of water) coming out of
your eyes. - Llorando.
Weeping willow – a genus of tree which has long vertically
hanging branches; Latin: Salix. - Sauce Llorón.
Trait - a distinguishing
feature or
attribute of your personal nature. - Rasgo, característica.
Firmness - strong and sure - resistant to externally applied
pressure. - Firmeza.
Unwavering - marked by firm determination or resolution. –
inquebrantable.
Trunk - the main woody axis of a tree – tronco.
Adaptability - capable of making suitable to or fit for a
specific use or situation. - Adaptabilidad.
Flowing – long, loose, and continuously and fluidly moving
in one direction or another. - Largo, suelto y fluido.
Crown – the part of the tree made up of branches and leaves.
- Copa.
Claim - to state to be true, especially when open to question.
- Afirmar.
Dynamic – characterized by continuous change, activity, or
progress; marked by intensity and vigor; forceful. - Dinámico.
Skeleton - a supporting structure or framework, as of a human
body or a building. - Esqueleto.
Skeleton key - a key that opens every one of a given set of
locks. - Llave maestra.
Isolated - separated from others; solitary or singular. –
Aislado.
Feature - a prominent or distinctive aspect, quality, or characteristic.
- Característica.
Surpass – to be or do something to a greater degree, to overshadow.
- Superar, hacer sombra.
Power - the
skill, ability or capacity to
perform or act effectively; the ability to control or influence
changing situations and circumstances. - Poder.
Long-term – a long period of time. - A largo plazo.
Determination - the quality of being
firm, resolved and determined to do or achieve something;
resolve. – Determinación, decidido a.
Willingness – not needing to be persuaded to do something;
enthusiastic or interested in doing something. – Estar dispuesto
- Buena voluntad.
Undergo - to be subjected to a change or transformation. -
sufrir algo como una transformación.
Transformation - change. - transformación.
Bring something about - to cause, make, plan, organize, and
carry out (an event). – Causar, hacer, planear, organizar
y llevar a cabo (un acontecimiento).
the willingness to undergo a transformation in order to bring
one about in another. - (in other words) to be able to teach,
you must first learn. - estar en buena disposcición
para sufrir una transformación y de este modo poder
transformar (educar) a otra persona.
Paragraph 2
Complex - consisting of interconnected parts; composite. -
Complejo.
Diverse - differing one from another; made up of distinct
characteristics, qualities, or elements. – Diversos.
Personality - All of the
traits of a specific person. - Personalidad.
Method - a regular and systematic way of
achieving something. - Método.
Hodge-podge - an expression often used negatively describing
a mixture of things. - Batiburrillo, mezcolanza.
Things - the general state of affairs; conditions; a turn
of events; a circumstance. - Asuntos, el estado general de
los asuntos.
Wishy-washy - not having strength of character or purpose;
ineffective. – Sin personalidad.
Over-adapt - implies that one concedes or
gives up too much to another person. - Ceder demasiado.
Confront - opposed with hostility. - Enfrentado.
Contrary - opposed, as in character, opinions or purpose.
- Contrario.
Yield - to concede or
give up something to another. - Ceder.
Latter - second of two persons or things mentioned. - el segundo
de dos personas o cosas mencionadas.
Third party - a person who is involved in a situation apart
from the two main actors. - Tercero.
Alter ego - another side of a person. - El otro lado de una
persona.
Impose - to force (oneself or one's ideas) on others with
undue insistence or without invitation. - Imponer.
Further - additional. - Adicional u otras más.
Impediment - something that obstructs. - Impedimiento.
Resort - to use an unsatisfactory method to do something in
time of need. - Recurrir a.
Means - how a result is obtained or an end is achieved. -
Medio (para obtener un resultado).
Achieve - to perform or carry out with success. - Lograr.
Ends - the results that you try to obtain with some means.
- Los fines o metas que se intentan obtener con unos medios.
Resultados.
Paragraph 3
Education - the process by which an individual is encouraged
and enabled to fully develop his or her potential; an instructive
or enlightening experience. – Educación.
Take place - happen. - Ocurrir.
Commit / Commitment - to promise to do something in a particular
way. - Comprometerse / compromiso.
Each other - used to show that two or more members of a group
do something for the other members. i.e. "if I do something
for you and you do something for me, we do something for each
other." Hacer algo los unos para con los otros.
Give up - to surrender or yield something to another. - Rendir
o ceder.
Perseverance - the trait of continuously trying to achieve an
objective despite the difficulties. - Perserverancia.
Time consumming - taking a long time to do. - Que cuesta mucho
tiempo hacer.
Root cause - the main reason for something happening. - Causa
fundamental.
Suffer - to experience something unpleasant such as a disease,
injury or pain. - Sufrir.
Upshot - the final result; the outcome. - El resultado final.
At hand - close by; near. - A mano.
Paragraph 4
There is no such thing. - it doesn't exist. - No existe.
Reality therapy - is a particular approach in psychotherapy
and counselling. - Es un enfoque en psicoterapia. See
on Wikipedia
Paragraph 5
Corollary - a situation that is the direct and natural result
of another one. - Corolario.
Unwillingness - not wanting to do something, needing to be
persuaded to do something; unenthusiastic or uninterested
in doing something. – Falta de disposición, no estar
dispuesta.
Get deep into - to explore thoroughly. - Profundizar.
Symptomatic - being a characteristic of a particular problem
or illness. - Sinfomático
Chronic failure - never succeeding. - Fracaso crónico,
constante.
