Is there a greater pleasure for teachers than a triumph of their own students? It could only be a double triumph, accomplished in two different, equally hard disciplines. However, the pleasure I am feeling at this moment has no comparison, because this time my student is also my own child.
I got him when I had already achieved all of my competitive ambitions. I had never wanted to put the burden of my own expectations and desires on his shoulders. Having recognized his inherited talent for learning languages, I channeled my teaching only to the extent that he was interested and curious to follow.
By coincidence, the first foreign language for my child was Italian, not English. I used to travel very often to Italy when he was two and he started collecting words and expressions without my influence.
I was amazed to see how the child of three or four absorbed with ease such complex grammar issues.
When he started going to school, we had to stop travelling that often, but I chose the school offering Italian and English as the second and the third language. It was also when I started teaching him, using my particular techniques. The internet and the constant communication in English with friends from all over the world have completed the job.
As a result, when he finally got a chance to compete (The first official competition in my country for languages is at the age of 14), he won the first prizes, both in English end Italian.
Can you imagine how proud I feel at this moment? There is no greater reward for all the effort and patience that I have given him, nor better publicity and proof of quality for my teaching methods.