Abigail Fulbrook: Welcome back to the Elevate blog at weareenglishteachers.com. I’m here with Mariya today. Hello.
Mariya Hristova: Hi, Abbie. Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
Abigail Fulbrook: Thanks for coming on. Where are you in the world at the moment?
Mariya Hristova: I’m based in the UK.
Abigail Fulbrook: And you’re nice and warm at the moment.
Mariya Hristova: Well, yes. Fortunately, it’s a bit cooler today.
Abigail Fulbrook: I see. And you’re an English teacher.
Mariya Hristova: I’m an English teacher. Yeah, I teach online and I help multilingual lingual professionals improve their English communication skills, especially in high pressure situations.
Abigail Fulbrook: I see. That’s quite a specific thing you’re doing. How did you come to be working with those kind of people as professionals?
Mariya Hristova: All right. Well, I started my career at 20, I’ve been in education for over 20 years and I started out as an educational counselor and then gradually transitioned into teaching English as an additional language. So for a period of time I balanced both roles working with learners from all sorts of linguistic backgrounds and I also have extensive experience with neurodiverse learners throughout that journey.
Mariya Hristova: Communication has always been my central focus. So here I am workplace communication that’s something that I’ve always been passionate about and having also the lift experience working across languages so that’s culminated for the last six years alongside working with neurody divergent students that was my my main focus and how can I help what are what are the barriers That’s and how to remove barriers to step forward and be seen if we don’t know the language.
Abigail Fulbrook: I think do I do your learners find that they could be quite a high level of English, but then they come to the workplace and there’s a whole other kind of language going on there. They need more confidence to speak in that kind of situation.
Mariya Hristova: Yes, that’s the there is a widely known phrase, “speak so I can see you” and it highlights the idea that person’s speech reveals their character.
Abigail Fulbrook: Mhm. Okay.
Mariya Hristova: So this made me reflect on the basic human need for visibility, for belonging, for recognition, for self-worth. And from that perspective, learning the language and, improving your language skills is not just about the language, it’s the whole other aspects of communication. It’s the emotional and cognitive aspects and dimensions of communication and handling complex interactions, especially under pressure, especially when it matters at work. And again, a workplace is somewhere we crave to be recognized not only for the experts we are but also as individuals to be seen as credible, to be part of a team to work collaboratively and that’s to be truly seen for who you are as an expert and as an individual.
Abigail Fulbrook: Right. Yeah. I imagine it could be very frustrating when you want to convey your expertise but your language is the only thing holding you back.
Mariya Hristova: Yes, you put it very nicely. That’s exactly what is happening. Holding back, not stepping forward, leaving parts of yourself because that’s what you’ve been working towards to contribute, to be useful to be with others, to connect with others and then together build on something. So that’s been left out, and it’s quite…I mean that’s that’s not just for the person that’s for all of us. We all have to be part of building something better, and it happens through connection and collaboration. So workplaces are where we come together to build things, and everyone needs to be seen and they should be seen. We want them to be seen.
Abigail Fulbrook: Okay. Do you have any sort of memorable moments from your students or interesting stories from your learners?
Mariya Hristova: Well, I’ve got to be honest, every lesson is memorable. There is always a always like a gem that is staying with you, and you’re like discovering something more, something else, something more brilliant. and seeing this journey unfolding for individuals who improve their language skills but also how their faces are brightening up or the aha moments them coming back and giving the feedback that something happened and they that they they didn’t even expect they didn’t know that it’s possible that’s these are the most memorable memorable probably moments and it could be something as simple as well we had a guest or we had someone at work. We had a new someone that is coming, and for a couple of days they they come from a different country and we won’t have them again and I was able to speak to them, networking, socialising, bringing new opportunities to life just because you get your courage to initiate conversation they al they often struggle to initiate conversations too which is also a pity. because you never know what can happen, what would happen next if you just start speaking to someone. And these are all things that we can develop. These are skills we’re lucky. These are skills that that means we can learn how to how to step in our confidence, how to gain these experience through structured practice that is then applicable. And here is the feedback. I did it, Mariya. You know, I didn’t expect or well they just leave aside the learn helplessness or anything that they were assuming would never happen. And this is everyday life that they they have at work or even outside the workplace. That’s that’s the the whole goal, the ultimate goal is the whole individual and all aspects of their lives.
Abigail Fulbrook: Yeah. That’s so true, isn’t it? Because we say, “Oh, I can’t I can’t do that. I just, And that’s not kind of what I can do.” And unless someone actually challenges you, your teacher says, “Yeah, you can. And this is how we can do it.”
Mariya Hristova: This is very important, the consistency that is my learners and and myself as a learner because I’m also learning. We learn constantly. I also learn languages and improve and try to get deeper into that’s the mechanism behind because that’s very important to be able to see again, you have to see the person and and see their struggles and then from there give the advice of what is working and I’ve seen it over and over and I’ve experienced it and that’s proven practice that’s consistency and giving the tools of how to think clearly, speak clearly under pressure so that they then they can stay confident in the situation and through that experience then there is the the feedback and then there is the courage to do it again. And once the momentum is gained the consistency is not anymore a challenge. You just do it because that’s part of who you are. And everyday practice then is not that difficult. So after a period of time in education that’s the point of education. Learners are able to sustain practice. They know how to what is their own how how are they built their communication styles what they prefer and how how would they continue without that much support and without that much input and advice they are able to figure out their own ways to sustain practice because we all know language is that’s that’s a very very that’s a marathon it’s it’s the course or the program.
Abigail Fulbrook: Yeah.
Mariya Hristova: The practice that we are enabling during the sessions is to give them the tools for them to sustain and keep on going and them more and of course more agency I I’d like to continue I feel like as I would do this or that so they become more and more vocal and that’s not only in their lives but that’s also about their learning and the ways they want to learn and want to continue learning.
Abigail Fulbrook: I see. So, I think I’ve got an idea, but why do you like being a teacher? what is it about teaching English and being a teacher that you really enjoy?
Mariya Hristova: I said I’ve always been in education, and all of us, all the teachers I believe is I have I’ve never met a teacher who is not like that. We really care. That’s the desire to help and to see how improvement is evolving and how the person is able to do something that they couldn’t do before. So the process of transformation is there, is real the emotions are real. It’s not just intriguing philosophically, and intellectually. There is more much more emotion. It’s an emotional profession and I think we are professionals that are built to help and that’s just one way to do it and the more you gain experience and expertise, and the more you do the better you are and that is something that keeps you going because you can’t just bury your talent. You can’t leave it aside because you know how much that would help. You know how much, and you help the way you wish to be helped also. It’s something that is that’s a very human thing to learn and to help others learn. That’s how we evolve.
Abigail Fulbrook: Yeah, that’s right. Okay, Mariya, thank you very much. It was really interesting to talk to you today. Thank you.
Mariya Hristova: Thanks, Abbie. Thanks for having me.
Visit Mariya and find out more about her lessons for professionals here
