Miss L

“What will you do if you win million dollars lottery?” she asked us.

That night we learned about ‘conditional if’. I didn’t pay much attention to the grammar – actually I forgot whether we did it good or not – but I couldn’t forget the answers.

A friend said that she would buy a mini cooper; another said she would save it so she needed not to be worry about her future. Some said about going travelling around the world.

“Easy. I will spend the money to go to UK and Ireland.”

That’s what I said. I couldn’t think anything else. UK and Ireland have been my dream places to go. If I have so much money, those are definitely where I will go.

Each of us had given the answers. Now everybody stared at her. There were six people in the room; she was the only one with the blonde hair. We were expecting her answer.

“If I win million dollars lottery, I will build schools in Africa,” she said.

I could feel heat in my cheeks, embarrassed with my own answer. It’s a ‘conditional if’ question, I know. But somehow, the answer could show who you are, what you like, what you want to do in life. I felt so selfish. Oh well, maybe I took it too seriously.

Her name is L. Let’s just call her Miss L. She’s teaching English in one of the most credible English courses in Jakarta. I’m lucky to be her student. Twice.

Twice?

Yes. I was in Intermediate Class before I join Conversation Class. Both are taught by her.

Miss L’s younger than me, younger than most of her students. She’s just in her early twenties. In the first meeting, she said that she comes from England; north part of England (I practically had those starry eyes when she said ‘England’). This might explain her accent.

Talking about accent, hers is different with British accent that I used to hear. Her accent is… what we call it… unique. When she says ‘cat’, most students will hear the same word rhymes with ‘cut’ in American accent. When she says ‘have’ without putting it in a sentence, students will probably hear ‘half’. She’s jokingly said that she’s better learning American accent more often.

Since we are in Conversation Class, what we do for two hours straight – twice a week – is speaking English. There’s a time when I can’t believe how good she is in speaking English, until I realize that she’s a British.

Conversation Class is designed to make students comfortable to speak. Miss L is very good at it. I notice that she always says ‘good’ or ‘very good’ every time we finished speaking. She encourages us. She corrects the grammar or the vocabulary without making us feel miserable. Oh well, that’s what teachers do, right?

One thing that I envy most about Miss L is the fact that she’s travelled to 32 countries. 32 COUNTRIES!

Europe. Checked. America. Checked. Africa. Checked. Asia. Checked. As far as I could remember, it’s only Australia the continent she never goes to. I believe it’s only the matter of time before she goes there.

Last week we talked about being expert in something. Miss L asked us to write down three things which we are expert in. I found it hard to answer. I like reading, writing, listening to music. But I doubt it shows what I’m very good at. I just like some books, certain musicians. I do it for fun. And me, being expert in writing? I don’t think so. Expert is something that’s bigger than ‘just good’.

When the questions turned to Miss L, her answers proved that she’s Jack of All Trades (I have just learned about this expression). Kinda. She said she’s very good at playing piano. She could play a song just by listening to it. Playing tennis is something she’s great in, too. She told something about a tennis competition in her county, but I forget the detail. I just remember that when she was in a summer camp in US, she taught children playing tennis. Cool!

You can say Miss L is an easy going, adventurous person. But she’s very concern in voluntary actions. She became a volunteer in some country in Africa. In the first weeks of her stay in Jakarta, she asked us about any voluntary action in Jakarta. She wants to join it. Isn’t it nice?

I like talking about this Conversation Class to my close friends or even my co-workers. I will give them new words I learn; I will use it in our English conversation. They are so curious with this Miss L.

“Picture or she doesn’t exist,” they said.

Haha! No, I’m kidding. But some of them really want to know what Miss L looks like. Problem is, I’m not sure she will be okay to take a picture with. She’s a bit ‘complained’ about how often Indonesian people ask her to take a picture with them. You know, just because she’s a ‘bule’. Below is the best picture I could give to you.

Well, she will just spend a year in Jakarta. She might move to another city, or even another country. We may not meet again after the class finished. But I will remember her as my first English-native-speaker teacher, I will remember her as the first British I talk to.

Ps. I just call her Miss L in purpose. I respect her privacy so I don’t give her name in this post.

Pps. I really hope I can speak English better after joining this class. My classmates and I make an agreement to stay 15 minutes longer after Miss L teaches us. We will talk about anything, including the topic we discussed that day with Miss L. When I’m home, I record myself speaking English for at least 10 minutes in my voice recorder. It helps me practicing English.