06202016Mon
Last updateFri, 17 Jun 2016 12pm

Language teacher/student happily embraces the confusion of communication

Phil Rylett began learning Spanish at the same time he started teaching English as a Second Language in California.

It meant that he could empathize with his ESL students, for he was going through exactly the same painful confusion. 

In Rylett’s opinion, learning a second language is harder than it needs to be, and part of his goal, now living in Ajijic, is to persuade the retired expat community that it is possible to reach satisfactory levels of communication.

Rylett was born and raised in a small, coal-mining village in England, a place where kids played in the streets and neighbors chatted under the streetlights; a place where daily courtesies were the norm. 

For him to once again be part of something like this in Ajijic has been a great motivator. He remembers the strangers who settled in his English village were polite and sociable, but remained outsiders for several generations before being accepted into the fabric of village life. He is under no illusion that the situation is any different in Ajijic. 

Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.

No Comments Available