Describe Your First Day as an English Teacher

My "First" Day as an EFL Teacher

Since I had such a “hodge-podge” kind of start with ESL I can’t really remember my true “first day” of teaching. What I DO remember though is the first class that impressed me the most from back then up until now. I was assigned to teach a class of Chinese learners soon after starting as an ESL teacher for a Federal / State government Literacy program in Easton, Pennsylvania called PROJECT of Easton. (The small town of Easton is the home of former world heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes who fought both Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.)

Anyway, what I didn’t know was that the class consisted of about a dozen or so Chinese who’d just arrived in the USA literally the week before. When I say they knew nothing, I mean they knew absolutely NOTHING about the USA. They didn’t even have winter clothes and it was still cold out although technically it was “Springtime”.


Not only that, they were from different regions of China which meant that they couldn’t even talk to each other! Using the training and little experience I did have, I survived the first class. They seemed pleased and I said to myself, “If I could manage this, nothing else would ever phase me in an English class again. Tue enough, to this day it hasn’t. That was my toughest, “trial-by-fire” EFL class experience. After that classes with them were great. They’d even bring me “authentic” Chinese food for lunch after class. I got to eat some strange, but tasty things after those classes. From then on, I was “hooked”.

So, what was YOUR first day as an English teacher like?


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.