Online language teacher is still one of those jobs which sometimes elicits a blank expression from people. Sorry, you do what?
说起在线语言教师，不少人会一脸茫然，“不好意思，可是你究竟做些什么？”
But with more and more students migrating from bricks-and-mortar schools to the virtual learning environments offered online, this reaction is becoming increasingly rare.
但是，随着越来越多的学生从实体学校转投在线学习，有这种反应的人数也显著减少。
In fact, despite being a relatively new addition to the world of language learning, online tuition is often the number one choice for students with busy schedules or specific needs or who live in remoter areas.
事实上，在线教育虽然是一种新兴的语言学习方式，但对于那些日程忙碌，有特殊需求的或者是住在偏远地区的学生，它往往学习语言时的首选。
It puts them face-to-face with a native speaker who is qualified in exactly what they need to learn, whether academic, professional or general language, and allows them to progress at their own pace.
在线语言教育让学生可以面对面的同合格的母语老师按自己的节奏学习需要的内容，无论是学术或商业用语，又或是总体上学习一门新语言。
But what about the teachers themselves? What’s their motivation for getting behind a computer screen and taking their knowledge and experience online?
可是，那些选择在线授课的老师们是怎么想的呢？是什么促使他们选择坐到屏幕前通过网络来传授他们的知识和经验呢？
Well, to coincide with World Teachers' Day on Wednesday, October 5 I’m going to reveal my favourite things about being an online language teacher.
在世界教师日之际（10月5日星期三），就让我来说说我觉得身为一名在线语言教师的最棒的部分吧。
Meeting people at the best stage in their lives
在每个人人生最好的阶段遇见他们
Learning languages is about self-improvement. And people who are interested in improving themselves tend to be happy and positive people. Even better than that, they’re usually at a time in their lives full of optimism and ambition.
学习语言的目的往往是为了自我提升，而那些乐于提高自己各方面能力的人通常为人积极开朗，甚至可以说，他们通常会处于其人生最好的阶段，处事乐观，对未来充满希望。
Perhaps they’re about to embark on a new stage of education or are seeking professional advancement? Whatever it is, language students often have big plans for their own future. And a teacher has the privilege of playing a (small) part in that.
或许他们即将迎来新一阶段的学习，又或者在追求职业上的进步。无论原因是什么，语言学生通常对他们的未来有清晰的规划，而作为一名老师，我很荣幸能成为其成功路上的一部分，哪怕是略尽绵薄之力。
This makes a ‘work environment’ which is full of job satisfaction and smiley faces. Anyone who spends long days in an office can tell you how rare that is.
这使得我的“工作环境“充满成就感和笑容，那些整天待在办公室的职员们会告诉你这有多难得。
Feeling like a know-it-all
无所不知的满足感
There are not many situations in life where we get to feel like an authority. But don’t underestimate how satisfying this feeling is. You know the sense of importance when your friends consult you on a matter which just so happens to coincide with your area of intellectual expertise? Well, that’s what it feels like to be a teacher.
虽然在生活中我们很少有扮演权威者的机会，但千万不要低估这个带来的满足感。当你的朋友来咨询你某事，而他问的又恰恰是你所擅长时，往往会让你觉得自己非常重要。做一名老师的感觉就是如此。
Explaining a grammatical concept or piece of new vocabulary and then seeing it become a regular part of a student’s arsenal of language abilities is thoroughly rewarding. And that’s especially true when it’s something they’ve struggled with in the past.
解释一条语法规则或者一个新的单词，并见证它成为学生语言武器库中的常规武器是件非常有成就感的事情，特别是当该学生会曾经为此苦苦挣扎过时。
Seeing students progress
见证学生的进步
A conscientious and enthusiastic student can make incredible improvements to their language abilities in just a short length of time. And this is another reason which makes online teaching a pleasure.
一名勤勉热情的学生在短期内就能在语言学习上有突飞猛进的进步。这是在线教育充满成就感的另一个原因。
Perhaps the first lesson featured stilted conversation, misunderstandings and a lack of confidence. But quite often, by the 10th session you’re engaging in complex conversations, have worked out those kinks in pronunciation and are hearing someone express themselves semi-fluently for perhaps the first time. What could be better?
也许第一节课时你们之间充满了生硬的对话，错误百出，学生也缺乏自信。但通常到第十节课时，学生就能进行较复杂的对话，克服那些难发的音，也许有些人可以第一次他们半流利得表达自己。还有什么能比这更棒？
Hearing about lives halfway around the world
知道千里之外的人们的生活点滴
Teaching in a school is great. But teaching online lets you into the homes of students in the furthest flung corners of the world. Perhaps in the morning, you’ll find yourself chatting with a Muscovite about their daily commute through the Russian capital. In the afternoon, you could be deep into conversation with an Uzbek about the country’s political situation. And by the time you’ve almost finished for the day, you’re learning about the latest local news from an Italian in Milan.
在学校里教课很棒，但在线授课能让你知道地球另一端的学生的生活点滴。早上你和在莫斯科的学生聊着俄罗斯首都的通勤情况，到了下午，你又和来自乌兹别克斯坦的学生深入探讨他们国家的政治情况，而你整天的教学工作在来自意大利的学生的当地新闻的陪伴下步入尾声。
Not many jobs allow you to peer into the day-to-day realities of such an interesting variety of human beings. For anyone interested in how life is lived on the other side of the world, it’s a truly fascinating experience.
不是所有的工作都可以让你有机会接触到这么多来自不同国家拥有不同背景得人的日常生活，对于那些对地球另一端的人们的生活感兴趣的人来说，在线授课无疑是份绝佳的工作。
Being free to live wherever you want
能自由选择在何处生活
In the past year I’ve lived in Colombia, Ecuador, Hungary and the Czech Republic. In fact, I’m writing this now from Berlin where I’ve been based for only a week or so. Working online is great if you’ve got itchy feet, a taste for foreign cuisine and an eagerness to jump feet first into adventure.
过去几年我分别在哥伦比亚，厄瓜多尔，匈牙利和捷克生活过。事实上，此时我正在柏林写这篇文章，而我才刚到这一个多星期。如果你渴望旅行，喜欢外国菜肴，同时迫不及待渴望开始冒险的话，那在线工作非常适合你。
Being location-independent means you’re only reliant on your laptop and a steady wifi connection. You can move at the drop of a hat and set up somewhere new in the space of a few days. What freedom!
不必依赖地理位置意味着你仅需要一台笔记本电脑和稳定的无线网络。来一场说走就走的旅行，短短几天功夫就能在新地方安顿下来，这是何等的自在畅快！
Having the best conversations
进行最棒的对话
Anyone learning a language at a beginner level, will be familiar with the themes of hobbies, holidays, family and work. But get a little higher and you’ll obtain the ability to speak about much more complex topics. It might be literature or TV shows or it might be world politics and current events, but making serious steps in a language allows you to enter a whole new world of conversational topics.
所有初学语言的人对兴趣爱好，假期，家庭和工作这些话题都不陌生。但是，随着水平的不断提升，你开始有能力说一些比较复杂的话题，或许是文学，又或者是电视节目，甚至是世界政局和当下局势，认真的学习语言可以让你进入一个全新的对话领域。
And that’s great for teachers as well. Suddenly they find themselves with a fascinating conversation partner who can illuminate them on world events or offer their personal opinions on culture or art. When you really click with a student, it makes teaching them a truly rewarding experience.
这对老师来说这也很棒。突然之间，他们发现自己有一个无与伦比的谈话对象，给你带来关于世界大事的全新见解，他们关于文化或艺术的个人观点。当你真心喜欢一个学生时，教授他们也会变成一个很有回报感的经历。
Learning your own language
学习你自己的语言
Surprising as it may seem, not every language teacher grew up with an encyclopedic knowledge of the grammar and syntax of their mother-tongue. Instead, they probably spent months learning the intricacies of complex grammatical forms so they could accurately explain them to their students.
令人惊讶的是，并不是每个语言老师对他们母语的语法和句法都有着百科全书式的理解。相反，他们很有可能会花上几个月学习复杂语法形式的纷繁难懂之处，唯有这样他们才能非常精确的解释给学生听。
Rather than being arduous and dull, it’s actually a fantastic opportunity to really delve into the language you call your own. Learning your own language at a ‘nuts and bolts’ level is infinitely rewarding for anyone who has a love for words and the (sometimes) complicated rules which govern their order.
这过程并没有想象中的艰苦和无聊，事实上这是个绝佳的机会来深入研究自己的母语。对于热爱文字，喜欢研究那些复杂的语序规定的人来说，从具体细节入手学习自己的母语无疑是非常有回报的。
Hearing back about successes
收到学生成功的反馈
And finally, there’s nothing more rewarding about being an online language teacher than finding out your lessons have helped a student achieve their grand (or not so grand) ambitions.
最后，对于一名在线语言教师来说，当得知自己的课程帮助学生实现他们的宏伟（或者是不那么宏伟）目标时，其中的成就感难以言喻。
Maybe they’ve finally got that promotion they’d been angling for? Or spent the first three months in a foreign country and realised their language skills have withstood the challenge? Maybe they’ve been accepted to study abroad or just passed that exam they’d been losing sleep over?
或许他们获得了自己一直在谋求的晋升机会，或者发现自己的语言水平足以在一个陌生的国家度过前三个月，又或者获得了去国外学校的录取通知，或终于通过了彻夜苦读努力奋斗的考试。
Whatever the goal, finding out you helped a student achieve it through hard-work and dogged determination is a great feeling and makes language teaching (either online or otherwise) one of the most rewarding professions going.
无论学生的学习目的是什么，发现自己帮助学生通过努力和顽强的决心实现目标的感觉棒极了，而这促使语言教育（无论是线上还是其他形式的）成为最有回报感的职业之一。
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