Yesterday a group of my former students organised a reunion at school. We all met in our old classroom and had a nostalgia-drenched Christmas lesson, just like in the good ol’ days: cakes and cookies, Blockbuster-style games on the board, and our traditional singalong seasonal soundtrack of ‘Chestnuts Roasting’, ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ and – for reasons which remain obscure – the Backstreet Boys.
It was great to see them together again, although of course we have stayed in touch since they graduated two years ago. Most of them are now university students, some have taken time out to work and travel. Several have already experienced life in the US and UK. One girl wasn’t able to be there as she is currently living and working in London. It’s extremely satisfying to see how much our students really do benefit after all from all those English lessons once they leave school. One of the real perks of the job is knowing that we can make a difference and contribute something worthwhile.
And these guys had a lot of English classes with me – five years’ worth, in fact. As a special “nyelvi előkészítő” class, they had an extra preparatory year, in which they had a huge number of English lessons with me and my colleague, Andi, who was also there for the little reunion.
12 F in the house again
It was hilarious to see how many of the old in-jokes and catchphrases from our lessons resurfaced in the quiz questions. The only information I had to give them about the initials ‘PFE’ was: “This is what you always had to remember about the 1st conditional” and they all screamed as one: “Possible Future Event!”
Olivia and Tamás as the quizmasters
Our Christmas reunion next year is a DFE – definite future event!