Mentor English: Mentors and Mentoring
| This is an entry in the series on role models and mentors. It will be a week of talking about the people we respect and admire!
This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3) |
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We’ve already talked about role models this week. But a role model isn’t always someone who knows you. After all, you might look up to Bill Gates, but he probably doesn’t even know your name. . . and I don’t think he’s working to help you reach your goals.
There are people in your life, however, who you can look up to and who would be happy to help you reach your goals. We’re going to talk about those people today.
Before You Start the Recording
Think about the people around you who you look up to. Why do you look up to them? Do you want to be more like them? How could they help you do the things you want to do? I’m not talking about them doing the work for you or giving you money. . . I’m saying what advice could they give you, or how could they help you stay focused on your goals?
Think about it for a moment, and then start the recording.
After You’ve Heard the Recording
Is there a mentor in your life? Or do you maybe mentor someone else? Is there an area of your life where you’d like to have a mentor? What questions would you ask him or her? For what areas of your life do you think mentors are a good idea?
Vocabulary
Mentor: Imagine you’re staring a new business. It’s a hard thing to do under any circumstances, but wouldn’t it be just a little bit easier if you had someone you could talk to who’d done it before? Wouldn’t it be great to learn from their experience? To have them answer your questions? It’d be great to have a mentor. A mentor is just a person with more knowledge or experience who’s happy to help you try and reach your own goals.
Mentoring: Being a mentor can be easy, if you want it to be. You let the other person ask the questions, and you tell him the first thing you think of. But, many people think that being a mentor is something important, and they spend a lot of time thinking about how to mentor the best they can. When we talk about mentoring as a verb, it refers to all the things you do as a mentor to try and help your friend reach his or her goals.
