I'm your host Robin Shaw.

And in my podcast series I like to talk about topics about English

and improving your English.

And any advice or good tips about learning English.

I have a very special guest today.

It is Fanny.

One of the teachers on my Shaw English website.

So welcome Fanny.

Thank you.

Hello.

And today we're going to talk about Fanny's experiences teaching in Europe

and types of students she meets there and how she helps them to improve their English. Okay.

So why don't you just give a quick introduction about yourself.

Hello everyone.

My name is Fanny.

I'm an English teacher.

I've been an English teacher for six years now.

I taught mainly in Belgium and now I'm in Korea as well.

And I've been living in Korea for nine months now.

And I love it and yeah that's it.

Okay.

And when did you first become a teacher?

I actually...

I studied conference interpreting and... in Europe... and after graduating,

I worked a little bit in finance.

And in I'm in conference interpreting And then, I decided to become a teacher.

Just because I think I had always wanted to become a teacher.

Okay so you first became a teacher in Belgium, correct?

And what kind of school do they have there?

It's just a regular high school you would say.

Okay.

Middle school.. high school...

I mean ... upper secondary and just...

So what is your job title there?

I was a language teacher.

So is that a certified teacher?

Oh absolutely.

Oh okay.

Okay and how long have you worked there?

Um I worked there for five years.

Five years?

Oh quite a long time.

And why did you leave there?

Because I wanted to travel.

And I wanted a change of scenery and I think I wasn't happy anymore,

so not teaching - had nothing to do with teaching, but I wanted a fresh start,

so I decided to just go on an adventure.

Okay well yeah.

So what kind of students did you have at the high school in Belgium?

Were they all Belgian students?

Not necessarily.

No.

Mainly Belgian students, but a few English speakers sometimes.

A few people from South America as well.

Or people coming from - Turkey for example or some countries.

and just their families had arrived in Belgium.

And by the high school level, how well do they speak English?

Not very well.

Well you've you've taught in Korea a little bit,

so compared to Korean students how well do they speak English?

Well I would.. I would say that it's maybe it's a tiny bit better here,

but the difference is that people lack discipline in Europe.

Especially in french-speaking countries for some reason.

Do you mean they're lazy?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Especially teenagers.

So they just... yeah didn't do that homework.

Lacked maybe motivation for some reason.

I mean it's a general thing with French speakers for some reason,

so it was hard to get them to actually train. and... and you know have the the self-discipline

that is required to learn a language.

Which is not a problem here in Korea.

And English is mandatory?

It's a mandatory language?

In Belgium.

Not officially but I mean everyone learns English.

It's one of the... the first language that you have to learn is Dutch

because it's the second language.

The second official language. No actually I think it's the first, but shh.

And then English.

But if you want to learn Spanish instead of English,

I think you can in some schools.

Okay

Okay and are you a product of this system?

No.

But...

But how did you learn your English?

Well I had...

I was lucky I think.

My dad is British so I spoke English at home.

And my mother is an English teacher, so just through family and friends.

Just a lot of friends so I grew up speaking English,

being surrounded by English.

So you don't give any credit to the school system there?

I think it was good.

I think it was good.

Honestly, there are good teachers.

There are very good teachers.

It all depends on do you have the motivation or not.

And I was extremely motivated.

And I loved languages and so I really wanted to learn.

And I actually still...

I mean I studied English at school.

It's not only at home because I really wanted to be as

perfect as you can be.

Okay.

All right.

I wasn't lazy.

You're not lazy?

I know that.

Okay so...

the countries around Belgium,

you've also traveled and you spoke to the people there.

And what's... you know I haven't been to Europe very much

how well do the other countries speak English?

It depends.

You have France.

Pretty much the same situation as in Belgium.

French speakers and I think the younger generations are probably a lot better

and have more motivation for sure.

so I've met... well you know the cliché about French people

that they can't speak English?

I've actually met a lot of young business people in Paris and their

English is excellent so that's you know, that's a good improvement.

Then you spent one year in Germany.

I did yeah.

There's very good in Germany, but then that there is German you know

They're extremely disciplined and and they love English in general

so their English is quite good honestly. Yes.

And you also speak German.

I do.

How well do you speak German?

um I'm fluent.

Okay.

Well I'm a conference..

I'm supposed to be a conference interpreter in German

so I haven't practiced for years now but I mean yeah I could live in Germany.

Alright.

What's the future for you Fanny?

Where are you going next?

I don't know.

Where are you gonna teach English?

Maybe... probably in Europe because as much

as I love Korea, Asia in general, I love Europe.

I think I'm deeply European.

I love our culture.

I love..

I think we're very lucky to have like this collection of countries.

I mean in Europe the great thing is you can actually drive for a

few hours and you're in a completely different environment, different language

different culture, but still there's like this European bond that we all have.

I guess...

It's a great place.

We have good food.

Great people, I think.

So I don't know I might go to Spain maybe or Portugal.

And be an English teacher there or...

Probably, yeah.

English teacher - French teacher – German teacher.

Okay okay

I'd love to learn Spanish.

Okay.

Wow.

All right.

Well thank you for sharing your experiences and your comments about English.

Oh thank you for having me.

And yeah well I hope everyone learned something from our discussion today.

And thank you for listening.

And see you in the next podcast.