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slaqdog · Joined: 29 Apr 2003 Posts: 211

When I was living in Madrid near a busy Plaza I was able to listen to the famous Bongo players of Malasana (no ene sorry). People would gather on a Friday and Saturday night to bang their drum; bang is the operative word as they had no musical ability watsoever. As far as I know the drum is the only instrument that people with no idea how to play will take ino the street and inflict on complete strangers. all night long.
I am now teaching in the UK where I find myself with the tefl equivilant of the bongo player. She has no training. Her experience is three months chatting in the Med. Tefl is 'a doss job'.(repeated almost daily) She doesn't like coming into work.(she feels a return to a 'real job' would be good) She is unable to maintain disciplne. She decided the past simple was a good choice for the beginners class as she had some intermediate level material. She does not listen to advice:"I will work their levels out in a week or so". She 'hates the lessons when I haven't prepared'. She is clueless in the classroom in spades. She is a bongo player-I know-- I have the beginners class now using the past simple in place of the present simple---why not? they learnt it first!
How many of you have bongo players with you?
A lot of teachers teach because it give a deep reward in doing a noble job well and to the best of their abilities (and a hella lot of the teachers out their do a great job;they help and inspire)
Exclamation

Jyulee · Joined: 01 May 2005 Posts: 81

I live in Madrid, mind you the bongo players in Retiro are quite good!

I don�t work with any "bongo players", though - for the first time ever, everyone I work with are professional and motivated teachers. I might stay here for a while Wink

expatben · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:04 pm Post subject:

Sometimes I feel like a bongo player. I am young and doing a 1 month job in Spain teaching 5 year olds. I find it hard keeping diciplin.
That said, I am always up for taking advice from my collegues at the school who have done this longer than me and I do try.
Am I a bongo player?
Expat

31 · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 1797

English Time in Istanbul is full of bongo players.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Oh yeah, Retiro...that brings back memories.

I suck at bongo playing. There weren't any drums in the park when I was there many years ago.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Two people that worked at my conversation school before I got hired did their jobs something like this.

Cutesy blond with MA in Linguistics. Chatted about restaurants and shops where she wanted to go. Never once opened the textbook. Got loved by the old ladies in class and taken to restaurants and got bought a lot of expensive presents. Threw them all away and went home in a year angry as hell over how the locals would stare at her.

Joe PhD in Linguistics. Brought the tape recordings from the textbook every day to the grammar classes and played them over and over for 80 minutes until students got each and every word in the dialogues. For the upper level classes, he found CNN recordings and did the same. He returned to Canada in a year, too.

I inherited students from both of these people. Sigh.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

"I don't wanna work, just wanna bang on these drums all day".

We all march to a different drum, thank goodness.

Everybody enjoying the sunshine?

EnglishBrian · Joined: 19 May 2005 Posts: 189

My experience has been a slight twist on the bongo player because you reminded me of a very experienced teacher we had who'd worked all over the world. Came to Eastern Europe and very quickly decided that with his background and experience, on the amount of money he was now being paid he didn't really have to give a damn about his classes, his students, or his colleagues.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Anybody have an impressionable trainer or mentor when starting out?

Chris_Crossley

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Very interesting Mr. Crossley. Sounds a lot like my experience here in Japan. Our Manager stole a new teacher, a bunch of students, nearly roughed up the owner and nicked many of the plants around the school, not to mention most plants around the neighborhood, before opening his own school around the corner. Married one of the students as well, no doubt to facilitate the endeavor. Wonder if they are still in business?

Enjoy reading you, Sir.

Kind regards,
s

Boy Wonder · Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 453 Location: Clacton on sea

I have worked and come across 'teachers' who make the Bongo players of Madrid seem like members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

A teacher who came to lessons armed not with a pen or textbook but with the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie........every lesson for 4 months!!!!

Teachers in various countries who thought that speaking practice entailed talking about themselves for the entire lesson.....every lesson!!

Madrid based teachers who would loudly curse the arrival of their students through the open staffroom door and then riddicule them and their lives to other teachers as the students departed , again through an open staffroom door. This after putting a quarter hearted performance of teaching their randomly chosen photocopied worksheets.

One teacher who tried to teach poetry to elementary level Oil company trainees!

Another who prepared CFE students the day before their exam by showing them a video of George Best's greatest goals!!

One woman in Poland who in 8 months teaching a CFE textbook never once did a listening exercise with her class.....great prep for their listening exam!

The bongo players of Madrid watch out.....their inability and lack of direction has some fierce rivalry in the classrooms of EFL.