Scott Lusher, English language training instructor.

- When did you start working in ATC?

- I started working here at the beginning of 2008 for SP-3. During that time I was working on rotation – 28 days on, 28 days off. There was another teacher who was my back-to-back. At the beginning of 2009 I became residential and my family came over.

- Why did you come to work here?

- Before working in ATC I worked in Askai on the Karachaganak Petroleum Operating. There I’ve been working with Kevin Jordan. He came to work down here and I continued to work in Aksai. When there was an opportunity for me to come here I applied for the job and got a chance to work in ATC. So the original reason of my working here was to continue working with Kevin and also to work on a program like TSP.

- What was your impression of Atyrau?

- Aksai is a town considerably smaller than Atyrau. Coming to Atyrau I was very impressed. It looked as a nice big clean city with lots of restaurants and places to go. So I was impressed when I first came here.

- Do you like teaching in ATC?

- Yes, it is one of the best jobs I’ve had, really. Mostly because Training Centre itself is a nice place to work but all the trainees studying here are so motivated, bright and interesting as well. I really enjoy it.

Scott Lusher with Intermediate A trainees

- Is it difficult to teach students in SPs, who have little or no knowledge of English language?

- Well, in some ways yes and in some no. At the beginning when students have no knowledge of English it’s my job to help them to improve. When you start with the beginners group you can see progress very quickly. Students come very quickly from nothing to be able to make sentences and tell about themselves. It is very rewarding to see that development. Of course, when you first go in and you see a lot of blank faces when people understand may be ten percent of what you’re saying it’s not so easy, but that’s part of the job.

- On the assessment there might be some curiosities, comic situations. Were there any in your work experience?

- Not so much… not so much here. I remember once I was interviewing a person. I wanted to say "If you could go anywhere in the world where would you like to travel to”. Though the person didn’t understand what I was saying, so I tried to rephrase the question. Eventually I said "For example, I have an airplane ticket. I give you an airplane ticket and you can go anywhere you want”. The woman exclaimed "Oh! Thank you! Thank you!” She probably thought what a wonderful company it was to give an airplane ticket to any direction. Unfortunately I had to disappoint her "No, no! You haven’t got an airplane ticket” and her face dropped. She was almost crying because she’d lost her ticket. On her face it was written "What did I do wrong? A minute ago I had an airplane ticket anywhere in the world and now I’ve lost it.” There are plenty of funny things. Sometimes trainees when they start learning English say unusual and funny things. We understand that, of course, and we try not to laugh too much.

The most difficult part of doing a speaking test is that often we have to make so many of them, interview after interview, and it can be very boresome. Often you want to ask more interesting questions but at the same moment you can’t ask too difficult questions because that would be unfair to other trainees. If you keep asking the same questions, you keep getting the same answers and slowly the life drains out of you. That’s why we need to take a break sometimes. Though a good thing about speaking test is that you learn so many interesting things about people which you wouldn’t learn otherwise. People speak very freely on speaking tests. We’ve learned a lot about trainees and Kazakhstan in general.

- What advice can you give for trainees who’ve just started learning English to pass through the linguistic barrier?

- I understand that it is true. I think the best way you can continue to improve is to keep reading and listening. You can go to the internet and download different software for listening practices. Get as much contact as possible with the language. Just doing exercises is useful but not enough. There should be as much listening, reading and speaking as possible. When you have an opportunity to ask question don’t be afraid and ask it. Even if you don’t make the correct question just speak and get as much practice as possible. That’s the only way you’ll improve.