E58: Teachers We’ll Never Forget

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[00:00:02.160] - Oliver (Host)

If you think about it, almost everyone remembers a teacher, not necessarily the best one or the kindest one. Sometimes it's admiration, sometimes it's resentment. Occasionally, it's both. I've had a few of those myself, the ones whose voices I can still hear when I write or when I'm trying to explain something to my students, not because they changed the course of my life in some cinematic way, but because they modelled curiosity, patience, or a kind of integrity that I wanted to imitate, even if I didn't realise it at the time. What's funny is that when I became a teacher myself, teaching teenagers in a secondary school in England, I started to see the other side. You arrive every morning tired, armed with lesson plans and good intentions, and you hope that something lands, that an explanation, a moment of encouragement, or even a joke might actually help a student to learn. But most of the time, you never find out. Students are polite, friendly, even grateful, but they rarely say much. They move on, grow up, disappear, and you just keep going, repeating the same explanations to new faces, trying to be consistent, trying not to take it personally if inevitably, they sometimes seem bored.

[00:01:24.760] - Oliver (Host)

And yet, every now and then, there's a message. You get a card, a thank you that you didn't expect. And it reminds you that what feels routine to you might have meant something really significant to a student, that your work accumulates quietly in other people's memories. Looking back, I realise I've been on both sides of this equation, the student who never said anything until the very end and the teacher who never knew. And maybe that's the strange symmetry of education. It's built on invisible exchanges, on impact that only really becomes clear years later, if ever. So today, César and I are reminiscing about teachers, the good, the bad, and the ones who never knew what they meant to us.

[00:02:15.160] - Oliver (Host)

Hello and welcome to English and Beyond, the Advanced English podcast, where we explore culture, ideas, and personal stories through natural conversation. My name is Oliver. I'm an English, Spanish, and Latin teacher from the UK. And as always, you can find the free transcript of this episode, plus vocabulary flashcards at morethanalanguage.com. Let's get on with the chat with César.

[00:02:40.700] - Oliver (Host)

So César, today we're going to be talking about people that have had a big impact on our lives, subheading teachers. Because I think it's true that most people think that... Most people would agree that there is often someone in education that has had a big impact on you. It doesn't have to be that they changed your life entirely, and it was a transformative relationship that you had as a student and a teacher. But most people, I think, if you ask them the question, they get overcome with nostalgia and think back to their student days. So I thought that that might be an interesting topic, especially because both of us now are still teachers. I've been a teacher in a secondary school in what Americans would call a high school.

[00:03:25.710] - César (Guest)

You've been a real teacher.

[00:03:26.810] - Oliver (Host)

I've been a real teacher. But you really have probably actually had an impact on more people because you teach people all over the world.

[00:03:34.450] - César (Guest)

I actually tried to be a real teacher. I did one week observation, one observation week in London to see if I wanted to get into, you know, become a secondary school teacher.

[00:03:51.060] - Oliver (Host)

I think that's really stretching the word try. You really tried to be a teacher.

[00:03:55.900] - César (Guest)

Well, what I mean is like before getting into it for real, I wanted to see if I was going to like it. I was in a school for one week.

[00:04:04.420] - Oliver (Host)

It was quite nice school, actually, because I arranged that week for you.

[00:04:07.160] - César (Guest)

Was it nice?

[00:04:07.900] - Oliver (Host)

It was a nice school by British standards, yeah.

[00:04:09.910] - César (Guest)

Okay. So I thought that being a secondary school teacher was really, really, really tough. I think it didn't suit me. I decided to continue teaching adults, basically, which is the easiest way, to be honest, because adults normally want to learn the language and they're very thankful.

[00:04:34.080] - Oliver (Host)

They present different difficulties. That's, kind of, kind of, one of the things that we could talk about, gratitude and thankfulness, because I actually don't think that adults are more thankful. I think they probably know that they have to say... I think it's actually completely the inverse. Adults know that they have to say thank you at the end of a lesson, but they're not as grateful as children who will never say thank you.

[00:04:54.720] - César (Guest)

Or maybe children are more honest because you have received letters, not letters, but cards by the end by the end of the year, at the end of the course.

[00:05:01.500] - Oliver (Host)

At the end of the year. At the end of the course, yeah. When I left.

[00:05:05.080] - César (Guest)

And really moving letters from students saying, Thank you very much. You helped me with this. You helped me with that.

[00:05:10.980] - Oliver (Host)

They've made me cry. Like, I received cards and I received letters when I left teaching in particular, it was lucky that I didn't read them in front of the class because I'm not an emotional person, particularly, but they do make you really... I mean, they're really touching because... I obviously know from my own experience from being a student, that teachers can have a big impact on you. So I wanted to talk in today's lesson about why that is, or about our own experiences of it. So tell me about a teacher that had a big impact on your life.

[00:05:44.820] - César (Guest)

You know, I was trying to recall someone specifically, but I can't say anyone because I don't think I have the-

[00:05:51.550] - Oliver (Host)

I know someone who had a big impact on your life. It doesn't need to be positive.

[00:05:53.960] - César (Guest)

A teacher?

[00:05:53.960] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah.

[00:05:57.860] - Oliver (Host)

The woman that was mean to you about your Valencia.

[00:06:00.860] - César (Guest)

Yeah, that was negative, actually. She made me hate the language.

[00:06:05.620] - Oliver (Host)

Tell us about that, because that is the reality as well. Teachers can... I did Latin and Greek at university, partially because two of the teachers that have had the biggest impact on my life were Latin teachers. And one of the teachers that had an absolutely terrible impact on me was a science teacher. I actually got the same result at GCSE in the two subjects. But I could never go and do science at a higher level after the experience that I had with that teacher, which is a shame. But it was a teacher that when I was very young, but it impacted my enjoyment of science, my perspective towards science for the entirety of my education.

[00:06:41.820] - César (Guest)

It's funny how that works.

[00:06:43.220] - Oliver (Host)

So tell us about this woman.

[00:06:44.130] - César (Guest)

So this woman, she was the Valencian language teacher. Valencian is the second language or one of the languages that is official here in Valencia. It's very similar, if not the same language as Catalan. But there is a big political discussion about that. Context: when I was 10, we used to watch the cartoons on the television from Catalonia. Actually, I was more in touch with the Catalan than with the Valencian. So this woman made us a presentation in front of everyone about someone who we liked. I did it about Christina Aguilera because Britney Spears was already taken.

[00:07:31.020] - Oliver (Host)

Don't say that. Christina might be watching.

[00:07:33.840] - César (Guest)

I don't think Christina Aguilera is watching this show.

[00:07:36.380] - Oliver (Host)

She might be really bored scrolling through YouTube and she comes across it. She's like, Oh, this looks interesting.

[00:07:40.780] - César (Guest)

In fairness, Christina, if you're watching this, I thank you because you were the only one at the time, along with Jennifer López, singing in Spanish. Now it's popular, but at the time it was very ground-breaking. She was translating her lyrics in Spanish. Anyway.

[00:07:56.480] - Oliver (Host)

Into Spanish.

[00:07:57.560] - César (Guest)

Into Spanish. I did a presentation about her, and apparently, my presentation was too Catalan for her, and she was picking on that all the time. And it was my first time presenting in front of 30 kids. I was very nervous. I was very shy as a kid, a real introvert. She really made me struggle. I think since then, I had a difficult relationship with the language because she made me kind of hate it for a while. I don't hate it anymore. I'm actually more I'm passionate about it and I would like to learn it better.

[00:08:33.360] - Oliver (Host)

But it's a regret for you that you don't speak it better. And partly, you're saying, it's because this woman made you feel embarrassed, and then you associate that embarrassment with the language.

[00:08:42.970] - César (Guest)

Exactly. But I don't have the typical story of, Oh, wow, this literature teacher made a huge impact on my life and now I'm an author. No. But I do have several memories from different teachers who taught me something. For example, in Spain, I guess it's not that common in the UK, but I remember many teachers crying in front of us, crying because they couldn't take it anymore, crying because they were reading something that we wrote at the end of the course and they got emotional.

[00:09:15.500] - Oliver (Host)

Because it was nice.

[00:09:17.050] - César (Guest)

It was nice, yeah. It was nice. Crying because they were struggling with their life and they shared with us. I know this is very weird from the UK perspective, but in Spain, it was the '90s. You know people showed vulnerability. I don't know.

[00:09:34.700] - Oliver (Host)

Maria Jose will tell you about her second divorce.

[00:09:37.400] - César (Guest)

Well, literally. Then another teacher, the Spanish teacher, I remember he said something to me that I remember every time I write something, which is, Don't use too many adverbs ending in -mente, which you communicated to me.

[00:09:54.550] - Oliver (Host)

Now I have a mental block about using too (many).

[00:09:59.360] - César (Guest)

Which is silly. But now that I'm doing courses on how to write and everything, they keep saying that. So he might have had a point. Then as I was an introvert, when I was 12, 13, I had a breakdown in the middle of the classroom. The teacher took me and she asked me, What's wrong, César? I said, Well, I'm crying because I don't have any friends. She hugged me and she was very nice and I had a really good conversation with her.

[00:10:28.980] - Oliver (Host)

That sounds like a safeguarding issue, she shouldn't have touched you.

[00:10:32.320] - César (Guest)

It was just like a nice hug.

[00:10:34.440] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah. In the UK, you definitely would not do that. Definitely 100%. I would never touch a child.

[00:10:41.020] - César (Guest)

It was 20 years ago. Yeah. Even 25 years ago.

[00:10:46.240] - Oliver (Host)

It's not a shame because I think it's just sensible not to do it ever. But you're saying that this was a moment that was impactful for you and you found it very reassuring.

[00:10:56.700] - César (Guest)

Yeah, because it was the first time that I saw a teacher who I look up to, not only as an authority figure, but also as someone that can be a shoulder to cry on if necessary. I wasn't being bullied or anything. I just felt very lonely because I didn't have friends.

[00:11:17.580] - Oliver (Host)

I had lots of students come to talk to me about emotional things, about problems at home or whatever. But I think that from my perspective, I think it's always really important to be very professional, and that doesn't mean that you can't be comforting, but, you know -

[00:11:31.543] - César (Guest)

Without touching.

[00:11:31.750] - Oliver (Host)

Obviously without touching, that goes without saying. But also kind of like saying to them, I can't keep any secrets for you. Nothing you tell me will be confidential. It can't be. That's something that when you're training to be a teacher in the UK, they drill into you. It's really important to be clear that you are not their friend. It is a different relationship. You can be an inspiring figure for them, hopefully and ideally, but you are not their friend.

[00:12:01.180] - César (Guest)

Yeah, I can see that. Now I want to ask you about your experiences with teachers. Do you have anyone in particular you remember?

[00:12:10.620] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah, well, I had a terrible, terrible, terrible science teacher who I absolutely loathed when I was 12.

[00:12:17.090] - César (Guest)

Mr..

[00:12:18.200] - Oliver (Host)

I don't think... Well, his name was Mr. (beep). Because in the UK, you never learn their first names. Yeah. Which is a differentce from Spain as well.

[00:12:25.000] - César (Guest)

I talked to my teachers with their first name.

[00:12:26.900] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah. I know, I think the two teachers I'm going to talk about, positively, I think I know their first names, but I'm not actually totally sure.

[00:12:39.840] - César (Guest)

One thing in the UK, because this might be interesting for the listeners, with a woman, do you could actually know their marital status by their... How do you call the madame?

[00:12:56.740] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah, that's their title.

[00:12:58.410] - César (Guest)

Their title, right? Do they tell you, call me madame or call me missus?

[00:13:05.620] - Oliver (Host)

It's miss or Mrs.

[00:13:07.010] - César (Guest)

Miss or Mrs.

[00:13:07.740] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah. There is a neutral one, which is ma'am or something. I only know this because at my school, some of the female teachers wanted to make all teachers be called ma'am, ma'am, ma'am. Because I think it's like title is neutral on marital status. I think that some... What will happen a lot of the time if students don't know your name, they'll call you Sir, if you're a man, but they'll call you Miss, if you're a woman.

[00:13:34.820] - César (Guest)

Regardless of your age or marital status.

[00:13:37.640] - Oliver (Host)

I think that some women who were in their 60s found it demeaning to be called Miss.

[00:13:43.010] - César (Guest)

Yeah, it's the same in Spanish, señorita miss, for people who are over 60 as well in the school.

[00:13:49.000] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah. Well, I had two teachers. They're both Latin teachers. One of them, I would say, I am naturally a real geek and have always been impeccably well-behaved because I fundamentally want to... I guess I'm like a people-pleaser with figures of authority.

[00:14:08.760] - César (Guest)

Are you?

[00:14:09.720] - Oliver (Host)

In the sense that I won't-

[00:14:11.260] - César (Guest)

Not anymore.

[00:14:12.280] - Oliver (Host)

Kind of, I kind of still am. I would hate me as a student because I would resent people, but I would be silent with my resentment, whereas other students-

[00:14:21.940] - César (Guest)

You'd be what?

[00:14:22.340] - Oliver (Host)

Silent with my resentment. Whereas other students, I think, would be very vocal. But I had my sole academic act of rebellion with my Latin teacher when I was 13. He was very, very, very traditional. Every five or six weeks, he would add up all of our grades, and we had so much work with him, and he'd work out the average, and then he would sit you in the classroom according to that average. The person in the back left was the best, and it would wind all the way around until the people that were on his desk, basically, were the worst. I was very hard working as a student, so I was generally towards the back left. But when I was 12, I went 12 or 13, I went through a stage of rebellion.

[00:15:04.280] - César (Guest)

So you were right in the middle.

[00:15:07.320] - Oliver (Host)

Well, I started winding my way around to the front until it culminated with me basically being at the front and him punishing me by sending me to the headmaster. There was something in my school which was called the minus system, and I'd never had a minus. I'd only ever had pluses, plus points. And I think I was absolutely horrified when he gave me this minus, which meant I had to and sit outside there.

[00:15:31.100] - César (Guest)

Why? What did you do?

[00:15:32.240] - Oliver (Host)

Underformed academically.

[00:15:33.720] - César (Guest)

Okay, so it wasn't bad behaviour?

[00:15:36.500] - Oliver (Host)

No. I suppose I probably wasn't even cheeky, but I was probably insolent. When he would tell me off about my slipping grades, I would just kind of stare him down. But in the end, obviously, I internalised, you know, the message that I should work harder because after that, I worked really hard again. And I worked all the way through in Latin until I decided to do it at university. And then the second teacher, who I was thinking about-

[00:16:01.870] - César (Guest)

Is this one positive?

[00:16:02.840] - Oliver (Host)

This one is positive. Then I think with the first one, it wasn't that it wasn't positive. I have very good memories of him. He was a real character.

[00:16:10.440] - César (Guest)

He made you more resilient somehow.

[00:16:12.380] - Oliver (Host)

He was a very interesting man. People used to say that he had been a lawyer, a very talented and successful lawyer, a barrister, which is the lawyer that talks in the law court.

[00:16:25.250] - César (Guest)

A barrister is not someone working in Starbucks.

[00:16:27.580] - Oliver (Host)

That's a barista. He was a very high-powered barrister, and then he had a breakdown. His wife left him or something like that, and he had a breakdown and became a Latin teacher. Apparently, I don't know how much of this is true.

[00:16:40.020] - César (Guest)

Rumour has it.

[00:16:40.700] - Oliver (Host)

Yeah, it's rumour has it. But you could believe it just because he was so exacting. He was so demanding. He had such high standards, which I kind of love because Latin is a language that I think demands that attention to detail. I think it's really why I love Latin, because it was so focused on that detail. Then when I got up to the other end of the school and was going to go to university, I had a Latin teacher who... He was actually my Latin and Greek teacher. My school didn't offer ancient Greek for A-Level because it's so incredibly rare that a school does do it. What he basically did was allow me... He kind of got the school to allow me to do it for A-Level, and he essentially organised his timetable so I could be in the back of his classrooms doing my ancient Greek A-Level so that I could apply with that confidence to university, so I could go and study Classics, study Latin and Greek at university.

[00:17:40.960] - César (Guest)

Which university?

[00:17:41.770] - Oliver (Host)

Shut up. So, uh, that was, that was - I think both of those teachers between them had a really big impact on my life, I suppose basically just because the amount of effort that they put in. And I think that is, generally speaking, I don't think students, we as students, other, you know, later generations of students, I don't think we appreciate at the time how much effort that is, how much hard work it is for them. And, I hate working. So like, looking back, I'm like, God, these teachers are so hard working. In comparison to me.

[00:18:16.580] - César (Guest)

I love your vulnerability.

[00:18:19.860] - Oliver (Host)

For being lazy. No, I think that for me, they had a really big impact on my life. In terms of my interests, in terms of my kind of attention to detail and my love of languages, which definitely came from that teacher that I had when I was 12 doing Latin.

[00:18:39.320] - César (Guest)

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

[00:18:41.180] - Oliver (Host)

Listener, I'm sure that you will have done, so have you had any impactful teachers, teaching experiences, positive and negative in your lives?

[00:18:56.760] - César (Guest)

If Oliver has an impact on your life and on your English...

[00:19:01.160] - Oliver (Host)

I'm sure that that is minimal at this stage.

[00:19:05.140] - César (Guest)

But I have to say, can I say something? Now that I'm doing French lessons in school again and all that-

[00:19:11.840] - Oliver (Host)

Now that we both are, now that we started doing-

[00:19:13.500] - César (Guest)

I see how impactful was School from Inner French, the podcast I still listen to, in my French. How much he helped me for free. I'm sure some people who listen to you regularly will feel that you are impactful as well on their English.

[00:19:33.770] - Oliver (Host)

Maybe, but a shout out to Hugo from Inner French then. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much, Lester, for listening. Send us any stories, comments on YouTube, Spotify, etc, about when teachers have had a big impact in your life. And thank you again. Bye.

[00:19:54.320] - Oliver (Host)

Tell me about a teacher that had a big impact in… Tell me about a teacher that had a that had a…

[00:20:03.000] - César (Guest)

You're okay.

[00:20:05.270] - Oliver (Host)

Tell me about a teacher that had a… Oh my God.

[00:20:09.770] - César (Guest)

Do you speak English?

[00:20:11.730] - Oliver (Host)

Tell me about a teacher that had a big impact on your life.