Vent, ESL professionals, vent!

All you burned out ESL teachers, trying to make ends meet, what is it that keeps you going? What's the passion? Where is it? Everyday I see in many of my pupils' faces an eagerness to get whatever they think will be granted to them if, and only if they learn English. Oh, if only they could communicate well up to the standards of what is called a fluent speaker of this golden key, door opener language. Oh, if only... But, there is the impossibility that overcomes our dreams. It is so real that makes learning an unreachable place, a never-land, utopia! So, what can we ESL professionals do to be the bridge that links the halves? How to help learners reach the other shore? Be enlightened and finally try out their wings without the fear of making mistakes. Are we too hard on correcting them, too purist? Here is the way I see it: Have fun! Learning arises from an environment where there is harmony between what one knows plus what one wants to know. Very Vygotskian? This Zone of Proximal Development, as virtual as it may be is where a teacher should rest. We are the bridge: power to empower. Once teaching becomes learning, so much so that we see no difference, then and only then, mission is accomplished.