Jiří Borč Title: The Story of an English Teacher: Journey from an English Teacher to a Networking Podcaster and Community Creator.

Introduction: In today’s article, we will introduce the story of an extraordinary English teacher, George, who expanded his career in English education into new and innovative areas. This enthusiastic educator not only became a networker but also a successful entrepreneur, podcaster, and community creator. His story inspires us and shows that the possibilities for development are limitless.

My name is Jiří Borč, I am 44 years old. Since I was 11, I studied an English-Czech dictionary in the forest. I started with the English word “abandon.” Then, I read my first book, The Hobbit, in English. After attending the Californian Sun School, a summer camp, I met an American named Roger (see link 1). He liked running, and we chatted for 14 days. He remains a family friend to this day. 25 years ago, I came to a vocational school as a cook and waiter at the hotel school in Klánovice. The local principal mistook me for a student in the hallway; I was 18, and he said, “Go to class, the bell has rung.” I replied, “I am a new English teacher,” and he apologized, saying, “Sorry, Professor, the staff room is over there.” Then the students of the cook and waiter program played cards on the table. It took me six months to gain the necessary authority, and then they played under the table. In the end, I examined them as the chief examiner for graduation. I was 18, and so were they. To this day, when I go to Hilton or Pup, the head waiter greets me, “Good day, Professor,” and I get dinner for free.

Then I started teaching for big schools like James Cook, Glossa, and Skřivánek, Presto, but also for small agencies like Hermes, Kulička, Britannica, Lingua Sandy, and others. Mostly corporate courses for Česká spořitelna, Vodafone, and other corporations. I learned to create long-term plans and record hours in the Mycat system. Then, as part of my studies at the Czech University of Life Sciences (ČZU) in Prague, I went on an internship with AIESEC (see link 3) abroad, teaching English to young children in Turkey. Although I had my assistant, a young Esra in a turban, and I was in a small town in the middle of the country, Islamic, the children were fantastic. When I first entered the classroom, they stood up and said, “How are you, teacher? Thank you. And you?” They spilled it out in one sentence. It took me 12 months to teach them to say the pre-learned Turkish sentence twice, ask, and wait for an answer.

With relationships with local girls, it was complicated. I dated a girl for six months, then I took her hand on the street, and I got the answer: “Sokak da olmaz.” In the evening, after studying the dictionary, I translated the sentence as a strict prohibition, “not on the street.” This was followed by a romance with a married girl, which I didn’t know at the time, and when her husband beat up her classmate just for walking next to her on the street, I almost flew back to the Czech Republic in fear. But I endured and immediately ended the relationship. To this day, I have friends there in Turkey: Elif, Funda, and Murat, and I enjoy going back.

Towards the end of my stay, I traveled to the hospitable “Kurdistan” on the border with Syria and other parts of the country.

Further work, this time as a volunteer, led me to England, where I took care of the disabled 15 times, studied at the University of Wolverhampton Polytechnic, and met Olivier, a Frenchman, with whom I still visit regularly. In England, I also had a stepfather, Terry W, who taught me a lot; he was a former elite RAF soldier. I also took a trip to the Netherlands, where, besides visiting a coffee shop, I visited an exhibition of Rembrandt and met the love of my life, Japanese Toshiko-san.

This was followed by volunteer work in Belgium as a youth ambassador in parliament and the construction of playgrounds in France.

In Prague, I founded the online school Iguanalanguages and collected a lot of references. For the past 12 years, I have been inspired by Tomáš Havrda, a mentor and business architect, with his community of independently business-minded individuals – ICA (see link 4).

I work on podcasts (see link 5), where I share stories with interesting people in English, and on networking events in English, where I connect people (see link 6).

I have also created a course in English (see link 7) and Czech for foreigners online (see link 8).

Thank you for your attention. Do you have any questions?

In Plzeň, on June 20, 2023

Links:

1. Video: Roger
2. Video: Californian Sun School
3. Video: AIESEC
4. Video: Family of Independent Entrepreneurs (ICA)
5. Video: Podcasts
6. Video: Networking Events
7. Video: Online English Course
8. Video: Online Czech Course for Foreigners