III. The Problems Facing You.

 
Congratulations!  You have arrived.  After four years of college, and before that many years of primary school/middle school/high school, you have graduated and found a job.  You are at work; you are on the job—and looking around you.  What are you thinking of?  You want to survive.  It is a new job, the first real job; it is a whole new world.  Your future is uncertain.  Each day you work hard—and worry.  At evening you go home to sleep—and worry.  On the weekends you go out to play—and worry.  The first year of employment—and especially as a teacher—is always difficult.  It is in this context that your hard-earned knowledge of the English language will either flourish, or plod along—or wither away.  Know from the start that the English-language proficiency you nurtured and cared for over these years, is under threat  The enemies you face are numerous.  If you think this is nonsense, ask yourself, why is it that so many English-language graduates barely maintain their proficiency level, or else go into decline?  Only a few triumph in their quest.  Therefore, the enemies you face are numerous.  This section will discuss those forces seeking to destroy your hard-won knowledge of English: From other people, from your self, in terms of “other things coming in”, and in terms of materials/resources.