Patricia González: "Language has always intrigued me."

      She uses red lipstick and speaks with the kind of clear toned voice that inspires confidence and causes listeners to think:: "woh! she must know what she's talking about!"

    Pat Gonzalez is the mastermind of the Centro de Estudios Ingleses, a innovative English teaching project in Buenos Aires which sprouted up out of pure necessity.  "Actually, we didn't want to start an institute," she said, peering out from behind rimmed glasses at the journalist.  "We didn't say to ourselves, 'let's set up an institute.' No. The students pushed us into it."
 

      Suddenly the air seemed to ripple with buoyant wafts of freshly brewed coffee. The smell became more and more omnipresent until it turned into the more dense odor of burned coffee grounds.

      "Oh my God! The coffee! I'm so sorry…I completely forgot about it."

      "Don't sweat it."
 

       "We can have a cup at the corner bar."

       "That's very kind of you but I'd rather talk about your work."

         So, clicking on the recorder again, we got down to the nitty-gritty.
 

         "Tell me something about yourself?"

        "Well, I'm from Buenos Aires. In fact, I was born a few blocks from here." She pointed her slender index finger towards the north facing terrace, which seemed to say: 'Hey, what about a barbecue?' The conversation jumped ahead, skipping over the incidental details to get down to the basics.

        "So what do you do?"

       "I'm a teacher of English, or an English teacher…There's a bit of debate on which term should be used. Anyway, I feel I am a teacher of English."

    "How did you get into the profession?"

      "Well, I can't recall exactly when or where but language has always intrigued me. I suppose I inherited that inclination from my mother. She was Italian and that is probably where my taste for language comes from. Then there was my Irish grandmother. She hated the English but deep down I think she loved the English language. That was part of my heritage too."

     "Is English teaching your only job?"
 

       "Yes. So far, yes."

       "Where did you study?"

       "At school. Then I went on to teacher's training college at J.V. Gonzalez and I think it was there that I got the tools to do my job. Subsequently, I did a post graduate in interpreting at Lenguas Vivas. So you see first I became a teacher, then an interpreter, and after that I went on to specialize in language at J.V. Gonzalez."

       At that point there was a slight pause in the conversation. Outside you could hear a group of people arguing briskly in Spanish. That brought up the next question.

      "Tell me something Pat. Is the quality of English teaching good in Argentina?"

      "Well, many people are certainly interested in English here. But if you're talking about English teachers, that's a different question. I believe we have a shortage of qualified English teachers. Unfortunately, many persons are taught by persons who say they are teachers but are not. Very few of those who give classes are actually prepared to do so. And there are so few persons graduating from official institutes because those in charge have not thought about planning. The courses at J.V. Gonzalez and Lenguas Vivas are directed towards a relatively small minority; they do not reach the general public. In fact, there are many schools in Argentina which lack officially trained teachers. Headmasters find it hard to find teachers with degrees."

      One of the main concerns of the CEI is to prepare students for entry into the language training colleges. Pat explained:

       "To tell the truth, I never thought that I would set up an institute. What happened was that I was giving classes at the J.V: Gonzalez, admission classes. All of a sudden the authorities decided to cancel them, but the students begged us to continue. We didn't have a place so first we met at my home or the home of one of my colleagues. Then we decided to buy a place. "Actually, we didn't want to start an institute We didn't say to ourselves, 'let's set up an institute.' No. The students pushed us into it. So we started one day and haven't stopped since then."
"What is special about CEI?"

       "We teach beginners, from 12 years of age, conversation, exams for the British Council, for entrance into British or North American universities, admission courses, translation, simultaneous interpretation…In 1993 the Argentine Ministry of Education granted us permission to run courses on interpretation. So we provide officially certified courses with the approval of the "Dirección Federal de Enseñanza Privada," something which we consider a great honor. In addition we organize seminars on diverse subjects, such as sub-titling, diction, slang, literature, theatre, hotel management, gastronomy…"

        "Are there aspects of language training to which you give special attention?"

         "I believe that classes should be tailored to student needs. Teachers trained at J.V.Gonzalez or Lenguas Vivas dislike huge classes. We feel we should be at the service of the students, rather than the other way around. We prepare the courses bearing in mind what we think the student needs. The relationship is one to one because we believe in the importance of direct contact between teachers and students. We love our students because they are persons not because they are students; we enjoy teaching and we want them to enjoy learning. Furthermore, we put the focus on the spoken language. We want students to think and feel in English. This does not imply forgetting about our own problems, our environment, our culture: we are Argentines. But we must try to understand how the British feel, how the Americans feel…

        "What kinds of difficulties appear?"

        "Quite a few. To begin with, most students lack oral communication skills. They find it difficult to express their thoughts and feelings in the language and lack fluency. This does not suppose that the written part is good: they do not know how to write a good composition. The traditional teachers of English in Argentina fail in both areas. The system fails to prepare good speakers of English, or qualified writers of the language. There are also many problems related to transfer, taking ideas from their own language and trying to fit them into English language structure. They fail because languages involve different systems of thought and feeling. But it is the feeling part that is especially missing. There are so many misconceptions! For example, that the English are cold people. That notion comes from lack of exposure to authentic sources of language. Students are exposed to the text books, to the pre-recorded tapes made in the U.S. or England in order to be sold, that is, for commercial purposes.

         "Once when I was visiting London I tried to record authentic language. I was sitting on a bench in a park and started recording bits of conversation. Of coarse, I asked their permission first. They said yes, they didn't mind. Then I went into a pub and did the same thing. When I played these authentic pieces of language for my students, it was amazing because at first they found it impossible to make out what the speakers were saying but then I realized that the whole thing had worked marvelously well because two or three hours later they grasped more than they had ever imagined. Most students in this country study with Argentine teachers, listen to Argentine teachers. That's why I insist on working with native speakers, people who were born there in England or the U.S.A. or Australia and can speak from their own experiences, rather than on what they have been taught, what they learned in books."
"I imagine you have had many rewarding moments…"

        "Yes, indeed. The first day students come to class they mumble and can't seem to put two words together. What is especially gratifying is to see those same students at year's end expressing their thoughts and feelings during the interviews we organize with native speakers."

         Words, words, words, as Hamlet so aptly put it. But those words, correctly expressed, are tools of enormous and unpredictable potential. I bade Pat farewell and padded down the stairway towards the street. "Too bad the coffee had to boil over," I said laughing under my beard as Pat returned to her daily activities at the Centro de Estudios Ingleses.

Those who wish to contact Pat Gonzalez may do so by calling 4962-5409.

The institute's e-mail address is: [e-mail] 

Website: http://www.centroinglés.com