Prior to this past week, I have been almost entirely ignorant of the true state of international English learners. Having grown up in Canada on a college campus with a high percentage of international students, and then moving to Montana, USA to a college town with still more international students, I have been friends with many who speak English as a second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth language. Being aware of the challenges faced by international English learners who have already entered an English-speaking country, I have been unaware of how critical it is for students who have yet to cross our borders to acquire English speaking partners.

I remember being told quite often that there were not enough teachers available to teach everyone who wants to learn English. Had I been paying attention, I would have realized I could potentially qualify to teach English to speakers of other languages, but I discounted it and never pursued the possibility. Being frustrated with attempts to learn in a classroom setting, and having little or no money with which to finance higher education, I have been working in other capacities instead, often being called upon to aid communication between coworkers and customers. I have been employed by a debt collection agency, but I ran away from that job just as soon as I could manage it. (Being really hard and tough with people is not my cup of tea!)

I spent 5 years being a teacher to young children, helping them develop their native language skills, before being incapacitated by a debilitating back injury. I have since been forced to find work I could do from home on my own computer. I became an editor and proofreader for American novels–something I have been enjoying for just over a year now. Being friends with yet another language learner, who introduced me to James Parish-Bassett, I was asked to moderate in the IELTS United Learning Group, a Facebook group for English language learners.

I should have been warned by somebody that my presence alone was likely to generate a lot of activity (but I wasn’t). Being unaware of the impact I could have (simply by virtue of being a native English speaker), I was unprepared for the amount of attention I received. Where once I was being told that the need for English teachers was great, now I have been experiencing the reality for myself. In the past week, I have been inundated with communication. If I received $50 for every Facebook friend request and private message I have fielded in the past 3-4 days, I think most of our basic living expenses could be covered for the rest of the year!

Several in the group have asked why I, as a native speaker, would be in this group. How does a native speaker benefit from IELTS? The benefit I see is that it bring us together, to a place where we can all communicate with and learn from each other. Being in this group has opened my eyes to the need to rally all my native-English-speaking contacts to accept at least one speaking partner apiece. (This is now my somewhat-belated New Year’s resolution!)

I have been floored by the intensity, the enthusiasm, the energy, and the commitment of each learner to becoming the best English speaker they can be. Having gone on this little tangent hoping I could bless a few, I have instead been blessed by so many. Keep up the good work, learners. Most of you can already school me in English grammar!

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Until the next time…