Why did I decide to become a tutor?

As as I am sure everyone is aware, the world has changed to an incredible extent over the last 50 years. When I say 50 years,  of course, I mean since I was a boy! I remember being at junior high school and the way everyone thought that the new digital watches were just a new fad that would soon die out. Computers too, were nothing but useless little machines that nerds kept in their bedrooms while trying to master a language that looked like gobbledygook to the rest of us.

Those nerds had the last laugh as technology, specifically computer-driven technology has swept over the world like an unstoppable tidal wave or tsunami. In the field of education, everything  has been changing at an incredibly rapid pace as a result of the influence of this technology. Even 10 years ago, it was obvious to me that much learning was going to take place online in the future and the traditional classroom would be closely integrated with the Internet and the kind of learning that that implies. Then, our global order was completely destabilized by the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this pandemic, the domination of our lives by technology increased exponentially. Within a few weeks of realizing how serious the pandemic was going to be, I understood that it would be necessary to change from my lifelong role of classroom teacher to somebody who spends quite a large percentage of their time online teaching.

At first, I thought online teaching was a lesser option and that the next generation of language learners would be missing out on the best possible learning experiences. Fortunately, as I got my feet wet learning to teach online via Cafetalk, I discovered that this learning could be equally enjoyable, useful and jampacked full of moments of great happiness.

For this understanding, I just want to give a heartfelt thanks to all the students on Cafetalk who have done me the honour of asking for lessons.