Happy learners are good learners! A blog for and by LFM pupils in Moscow.

I thought I didn’t have a favorite teacher untill I left Russian school. I realized that this person meant a lot for me and she did a lot of things for me.

Once my parents decided that I will learn French. So when the right time came, they sent me to a school where I could learn it. We had 4 hours of french lessons per week.In the beginning I had a great french teacher, all my class loved her and we liked to study.

At the end of primary school, she broke her leg. She was replaced definitely by another woman, she was the head teacher of french language in the school. Her name was Tatiana Petrovna. She didn’t look like a typical russian teacher - she didn’t wear dark suits, she wasn’t  very strict and she didnt mind if we didn’t wear our school uniform. Of course, we didn’t care how she looked, we were afraid of her a bit - she was the new teacher with new rules. The first lesson we had together, she was talking with us, she tried to understand which level we had. I tried to answer all her questions, I wanted to show her that I know a lot of things, but i looked like an upstart.

In our class was a boy who lived in Belgium, so he knew French very well. She loved him all time.He was her favorite. All 5 years she was with us, she had her 2 favorites - this boy and a girl. This girl wasn’t me. I noticed that. It may sounds weird,but i wanted to be the favorite one, so i was upset.I did like the subject and was doing all my work all the time, I was ready everyday. But still, she underestimated me. Often  she was setting an example only of her favorites, althrough I had the better results sometimes. When I was in 6 grade I was annoyed, so one term I was doing almost nothing. Tatiana Petrovna called my parents and told them something whereupon they didn’t scold me,they only said that i needed to continue to do my best. I was confused, so I went back to the old times.I resigned. Almost every summer I was gong to summer schools in France or Switzerland to   practice it and improve my knowledge. So in the end I got a certificate with my results. I showed her my results, but I didn’t understand - was she happy or not ??

Every year - same routine.In the end of the 8 grade my dad decided to change my school. So when I passed the exams in 2 diffrent places and we decided that I will go to the Moscow French lyceum after a lot of debates between my parents.My mom and  myself called Tatiana Petrovna. Right at this moment I heard her happy voice. When I visited her in school, I told her that she taught me french,but i didn’t understand why she underestimated me. Then she said : «I didn’t underestimate you.I knew that you can do whatever you want, no matter what other people could say. Every year I was giving you the stimulus, which helped you everytime. Once you tried to give up, so I called you parents. I said that your classmates, who are good at french too,who take extra lessons, who lived in Belgium - they don’t need this stimulus, . One of them already knows the language , another one needs to know that they are paying a good tutor. You, you were studying so much alone, but if I would encourage you will relax and stop studying like that. I realized this  the first time i saw you. It seemed violent for you, but your parents were OK with that. If I hurted you, I’m really sorry. But you know, right now everyone can see the biggest result you’ve made so far. Your parents are proud of you and i’m too. I hope you understand right now.»

I cried.. She hugged me. I was so grateful to her. I almost hated her, but she taught me not only french, but also she showed me that people,especially the teachers  are looking through us to see how to archieve the goal,even if it’s not very pleasantly for us. This day, i realized that she is the person I will never forget. She left a very big mark in my life.