Everyone has at least one teacher who leaves a lasting mark on their life. In my case, that mark came with a fair dose of fear.
Meet Mr. Anatol Makaroff, the French teacher who terrified me into mastering a language I would later use to lecture audiences around the world.
Looking back at my school days in the 1960s, there’s one figure who stands out, casting a shadow across my memories like a tall, stern figure at the head of a classroom - Mr. Anatol Makaroff, my French teacher.
Without a doubt, he was the most intimidating teacher I ever encountered, and, frankly, one of the most unforgettable.
Mr. Makaroff didn’t need to raise his voice to command attention. His mere presence in the room was enough to send a shiver down the spine of any student unprepared for the lesson ahead. I can still recall the silent dread I felt when I saw him approach my desk, eyes narrowing as he collected our homework. For some reason, I was never willing to test his patience. I always completed his assignments first - without delay, without excuses - simply because I was too intimidated to do otherwise.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that his demanding nature was doing more than just frightening me into submission; it was instilling a discipline that would serve me for life. Thanks to Mr. Makaroff’s high standards, I learned French more thoroughly than I could have imagined. His intense, no-nonsense approach to language learning shaped my mastery of French to such an extent that I made the New South Wales (State) merit list after my final matriculation exams.
But the story doesn’t end there. Years later, when I found myself standing before an audience of 500 French people in Paris, about to give eight hours of lectures in their native tongue, it dawned on me just how much of my fluency I owed to that intimidating figure from my school days.
Mr. Makaroff’s influence reached even further when I was invited to Madagascar to give lectures and practical sessions to Malagasy veterinarians. Expecting an interpreter who translated English into French, I was surprised to learn that my assigned translator did not speak English – he only translated French to Malagasy! I gave all my lessons and practical demonstrations in French, which then were translated into Malagasy.
Intimidating as he was, Mr. Makaroff had a profound impact on my life. He pushed me to excel in ways I never would have on my own. Sometimes, the teachers who intimidate us the most are the ones who leave the deepest, most lasting impressions.
Addendum
I can still remember the words of a French poem that I memorized in 1963 during one of Mr. Makaroff’s assignments (Le Corbeau et le Renard [The Raven and The Fox] by Jean de La Fontaine), and all the verses to Au Claire de la Lune, the French folk song written in the 18th Century. And so much more …..
To understand the lasting effect this French teacher had on my language skills, I have read a lot about “fear memory”. I plan to make this a subject for a future blog post.
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