What did the Dutch teach us?
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 4:49 am
At first, I didn’t understand a word during my studies. The words were familiar, but nothing was clear in combination. Despite the fact that my mother is a PhD in philology and speaks English fluently, even together we couldn’t figure out what was going on. I remember a 1960 textbook about instructional design, although there is still no such profession in Russia. Inside I see the phrase “domain of knowledge”. I ask myself: “Where does knowledge get domains?” It seems like some kind of set of words… Anyway, I failed the first trimester. Then I retook it and eventually became a professional. If I hadn’t failed it right away, I might never have learned it to the end. Much of what I was taught is still absent in Russia to this day.
Upon returning to Russia, was your choice of profession determined?
I came back when I was barely 20 years old. And I went to work for my father at the newly created "Content Design Center" at MESI. My first husband also worked there. We were very young, some of the employees us companies board of directors email database were only 18 years old. The whole team were unburdened people without baggage, without life complexes. We tried everything, worked 20 hours a day, came up with and released new e-courses. Many courses. Such a wonderful time is always forced to end. People grow up.
How did you start your own business?
I like to remember from that time how I would come early in the morning to the office of my own company. My partner and I would start working at seven in the morning, have breakfast together and discuss tasks-projects-plans. We would work in silence together, while the others had not yet arrived. I felt so grown up then! I was only 23 years old, and because of the dissonance between my age and my role, the whole business seemed like a game - salaries, taxes, etc.
What was your first teaching experience?
My first corporate training took place at TNK BP. I was terribly nervous! But it was okay, I survived, and no one even ate me. I was so nervous during a few more trainings after that that I couldn’t even eat. The tenth time you feel like a goddess! You know and remember the material. On the 20th, your level increases even more - it seems that you have accumulated a lot of interesting examples, that you know what and how to tell, where to play with the audience. And then you get tired. And it is at this moment that you get a group of people who are not very motivated, who don’t care. And now you are tired, they don’t care, and a crack appears inside. You think: “Why am I doing this? Repeating the same thing every time?” After all, even the most experienced pro is still forced to repeat to the audience at least the theory, which does not change. And at this moment you stop loving people. But you need to love teaching! And you need to love your topic.
Also, to be a good teacher, you have to love learning yourself. When you learn, an interesting effect occurs. For example, I read an interesting book, and I immediately want to tell everyone about it, I want to share this interesting thing. I can even go out into the street and pester passers-by, although in life I am a modest person, I am even embarrassed to ask the time. So there are two different people living inside me, between whom protracted quarrels periodically occur. When I conduct trainings, I get enormous pleasure from communicating with people. And in a noisy company, I will definitely find a quiet corner, or choose one person to talk to.
Upon returning to Russia, was your choice of profession determined?
I came back when I was barely 20 years old. And I went to work for my father at the newly created "Content Design Center" at MESI. My first husband also worked there. We were very young, some of the employees us companies board of directors email database were only 18 years old. The whole team were unburdened people without baggage, without life complexes. We tried everything, worked 20 hours a day, came up with and released new e-courses. Many courses. Such a wonderful time is always forced to end. People grow up.
How did you start your own business?
I like to remember from that time how I would come early in the morning to the office of my own company. My partner and I would start working at seven in the morning, have breakfast together and discuss tasks-projects-plans. We would work in silence together, while the others had not yet arrived. I felt so grown up then! I was only 23 years old, and because of the dissonance between my age and my role, the whole business seemed like a game - salaries, taxes, etc.
What was your first teaching experience?
My first corporate training took place at TNK BP. I was terribly nervous! But it was okay, I survived, and no one even ate me. I was so nervous during a few more trainings after that that I couldn’t even eat. The tenth time you feel like a goddess! You know and remember the material. On the 20th, your level increases even more - it seems that you have accumulated a lot of interesting examples, that you know what and how to tell, where to play with the audience. And then you get tired. And it is at this moment that you get a group of people who are not very motivated, who don’t care. And now you are tired, they don’t care, and a crack appears inside. You think: “Why am I doing this? Repeating the same thing every time?” After all, even the most experienced pro is still forced to repeat to the audience at least the theory, which does not change. And at this moment you stop loving people. But you need to love teaching! And you need to love your topic.
Also, to be a good teacher, you have to love learning yourself. When you learn, an interesting effect occurs. For example, I read an interesting book, and I immediately want to tell everyone about it, I want to share this interesting thing. I can even go out into the street and pester passers-by, although in life I am a modest person, I am even embarrassed to ask the time. So there are two different people living inside me, between whom protracted quarrels periodically occur. When I conduct trainings, I get enormous pleasure from communicating with people. And in a noisy company, I will definitely find a quiet corner, or choose one person to talk to.