How Cosplay Turned My Failing TEFL Students into Fluent Speakers!... Breaking Traditional TEFL Rules Created Better English Speakers
Vinny Shir Singh
DProf Ed. QAHE Board Chairman and Principal - Grace Hardison Tefl University- Transforming Dreams into Global Success Stories in Education! - Mentor to 3180+ International Teachers - Transformative TEFL Degrees
Ever stood in front of a classroom and felt completely invisible?
Six months into my "dream Tefl job" in Beijing, and I was drowning.
That was just over 5 years ago!
Maybe you know that feeling – when everything you thought you knew suddenly feels... wrong.
What do you do when you realize your students are fluent – just not in the language you're trying to teach?
The fancy College brochures where I worked never mentioned the soul-crushing reality of teaching teenagers who'd rather be anywhere else.
I still remember the moment it happened.
A student's hastily hidden phone screen.
A flash of color.
An artwork that spoke volumes more than my lesson on modal verbs ever could.
What do you do when you realize your students are fluent – just not in the language you're trying to teach?
"Teacher Vinny, what do you think about Genshin Impact?"
The question hung in the air, interrupting my third attempt at explaining formal email formats.
At that moment, I had a choice.
When was the last time you chose to be completely wrong about something?
There's a particular kind of silence in a classroom.
The polite kind.
The kind that says, "We respect you enough not to tell you this isn't working."
What if that silence isn't a wall, but a door?
They showed me their world in pieces:
Have you ever noticed how expertise flows both ways when you're willing to become the student?
The transformation wasn't immediate.
It rarely is.
But what happens when you let go of being the expert?
When you trade worksheets for wonder?
When you allow passion to lead the way?
Six months later, I found myself at a cosplay event, wearing a handmade costume that was far from perfect.
My students were there too – not as students, but as teachers.
Think about the last time you completely reinvented your approach to something you thought you'd mastered.
How did it feel?
The numbers tell one story:
But there's another story, isn't there? One that can't be measured in data points.
When was the last time you saw learning happen in the spaces between the lesson plans?
Today, standing in my classroom, I still catch glimpses of that first overwhelming silence. But now I hear something different in it.
What would change if you viewed resistance not as a barrier, but as a compass?
To my fellow teachers:
What if your greatest teaching tool isn't your expertise, but your willingness to let it go?
What if the real breakthrough isn't in the perfect lesson plan, but in the moments when you dare to step aside?
What if...?
Maybe you're standing in front of your own classroom right now, metaphorical or literal. Maybe you're feeling that familiar weight of resistance.
What would happen if you looked at that resistance differently?
Just for a moment?
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is stop teaching and start discovering.
What might you discover today?
About the author:
Vinesh Shir Singh (Vinny) DProf. QAHE ED.) has spent over a decade in TEFL education across Asia, transitioning from volunteer TEFL teacher to Board Chairman and academic principal of Grace Hardison Tefl UNIVERSITY.
He also consults for Tefl Esl Tesol language programs focusing on teacher development and program restructuring.