I said the word. The forbidden six-million-non-the-poorer word, NO. Not to Kitreena, but to my boss, of all the people. Citernyer gini…she, many weeks ago, asked me if I was interested in teaching an IELTS class. Berkerut gak dahi sebab I didn’t know if I would be interested. Analogically speaking, it’s like asking me if I berminat tak makan kuih Epok-epok when I don’t even know if this kuih epok-epok would be anything like kuih Abuk-abuk or Onde-onde or it would even be like Perogies. In other words, I knew very little about IELTS. Kebetulan a full-time IELTS trainer, Lauren, was leaving a couple of weeks later and my boss asked me if I wanted to take over.
Well, to cut the short story even shorter, I said yes. Between memunggah satu resource room searching for books, modules, materials and what-nots to prepare myself, balik Malaysia to manage my property, and my ma & pa-in-law datang ke Oman for 2 weeks, and siap I gi ikut panjat Jabal Akhdar sumer…I managed to organize some lesson plans for the first week. Padahal weeks sebelum tu lagi dah I harassed my boss mintak the course modules. Three four times she gave me the opocot! She either forgot or didn’t have the modules.
It wasn’t until two three days before Lauren left that I got the chance to get some briefing about IELTS and about the four students yang akan di pass-baton kan to me. Then came the day. There I was, in a five-hour slot with one Danish girl and three Omani guys…looking at the reading practice handouts after handouts – wondering why I ever said yes to Joan.
I never felt more displaced, disorganized and somewhat unprofessional than I did that day. Of course I now know what IELTS is all about. But the given class bukannya IELTS class sangat. Annie yang dari Denmark tu punya English is almost as good as mine, but the guys’…hmm. Day and night. So I was basically teaching two classes in one. Two levels. On top of it I realized it wasn’t like handling a proficiency class. It was all about teaching them the strategies. Practice, practice, practice.
But now, come to think of it…bagus jugak I said yes to Joan. At least now I know what I don’t want to be doing. Teaching IELTS can be fun, I found that much out. But for a person who just read about the exam’s structure and systems…and nak ajar selok belok of it, nah ah! How many strategies can I gather in three days to feed these fighters? It was a battle, indeed.
So I dragged my thick face to my boss and apologized. Short and sweet, I told her that I had to withdraw from the IELTS task. I had to learn a lot more about IELTS before I could even say yes to such a task. My not knowing enough wouldn’t do justice to the students, they deserve an expert (or at least someone who knows about the exam better that I do). I spent many nights bersengkang mata to come up with interesting reading activities. Not to mention many days shooing Kitreena away from my desk whenever she came to play shiau shiau with Mommy.
It was just a little too much for me, a little too dicey for Joan, and a little too unjust for the students. I was confident that that was the best thing for me to do. To say NO. And I was being absolutely honest about it. I wasn’t sorry I said yes, I learned a lot about myself from the whole experience. I was only sorry that I had to put Joan through all the trouble to find a replacement.
Anyway, my boss was very understanding about it. Especially when I told her that I it was hard for me to drill the IELTS students to NOT read every word in the reading passages. Being a word-lover that I am, I appreciate words I read and I analyze the ways they are used. There’s so much one can tell about another by words uttered and written. Plus…just look at me, if I am not wordy…I am nothing!
I am back to teaching evening classes now. Enjoying every bit of it, and enjoying morning hours with Kitreena. Shiau shiau here and shiau shiau there, here a shiau, there a shiau, everywhere a shiau shiau. Old Mek Nida has a Kitty, eyai eyai yoh!
Questa è Enida 
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