Español, Innit: A Day in the Life Teaching Languages in an Essex School.
Español, Innit: A Day in the Life Teaching Languages in an Essex School Alright, picture this: It’s 8:30 in the morning, and I, Mr. Levi, Essex born and bred (apart from living in Spain in my teenage years), am standing in front of a room full of teenagers, ready to dive into another day of teaching Spanish. With my Essex accent and fluent Spanish, I’m a bit of an enigma to my students. They can’t quite get their heads around how someone who sounds like them can rattle off sentences in Spanish without breaking a sweat. Essex Meets Español Now, teaching Spanish in an Essex secondary school comes with its own special set of challenges. You see, my students, think that if they throw in a bit of Essex slang, the Spanish will just naturally follow. “Sir, how do you say ‘bruv’ in Spanish?” they’ll ask, convinced that it’s a vital part of the language. One of my favorite moments was when a student, with all the confidence in the world, greeted me with, “Buenos dias, mate!” I had to laug...