Class Visitors

Last Friday, for my “Let’s Speak English”/Language Practice class, I invited five students from School #19, a.k.a. “The German School” (as there are four Swiss teachers that teach there) to help me teach my lesson.

Side Note: School #19 is known for being one of the better schools in town to send your kids if you want them to have good English. Additionally, I am good friends with one of the math teachers at the school (she, Naraa, is also the Peace Corps Host Family Coordinator during the summers and has incredible English). Recently I have gone to participate in Naraa’s English book club. Of the students that attend the weekly class, five have amazing English, English that exceeds almost all of my counterparts.

To begin class, I had the three 8th graders and one 9th grader (one was not able to come) introduce themselves. As they each took their turn, I watched the expressions of my attentive students. Their reactions were mixed. I could see most thinking, these are the visitors Teacher said would come to class today?

When each of the girls had finished speaking, I broke the class into 4 small groups. I divided each group of 4, placing each of my stronger students in different groups. Our visitors then chose a group at random to join. As they got to know each other, I wrote four questions on the board:

1) What are the best ways to learn English? Why are these ways good?
2) What do you need from your English teacher(s) to improve your English? Explain.
3) Is it better to study English alone or with friends? Why?
4) Why do you study/practice English? What do you want to do with English?

I assigned a question to each group and explained that, with our 8th and 9th grade visitors as leaders, they were to discuss their question using as much English as possible.

As I walked around the room, listening to conversations, I noticed quite quickly the reactions of the students. The group’s leaders were doing a great job of keeping my students on task, but my students had varied responses to the exercise. Some were excited and active. Most, however, as I had expected, were either shy or embarrassed. My two male students gave me the strongest reactions. One had completely shut down and the other was insulted. Both looked at me as if I had betrayed them.

Of my four best students, three thrived in this environment (the fourth was the insulted student (he eventually turned his frown upside down after I spoke to him in private that he should act like the class leader he knew he was)). Another quarter of the class also took advantage of the opportunity.

About half of the class was just confused why I would bring in 14 and 15 year olds to help me teach and went along with it because they had to.

After fifteen minutes, I brought the groups back together. As we discussed the four questions as a class, I was again impressed with the way that the four younger students took charge, how they employed critical thinking skills and how comfortable they were with their second language. As for my students, most participated, many reluctantly, some eagerly. A few even, who have of late been excelling, gave moments of inspired speech.

After class, as we walked back to my office, the four girls expressed their opinions about the lesson and their frustrations with my students. I listened attentively as they explained that my students need to relax more, that they shouldn’t be so shy when speaking English. Each had explained to her group that speaking English shouldn’t be difficult; it simply requires practice and confidence.

What is your favorite English word?

I begin each class with a question. On one particular day, these were my students' responses to the above query:

Snappish
Amazing
Change
Fantastic
Oh, my God
Smile
Don’t ever give up
Scorpion
Wonderful
Beautiful
Encouragement
Powerful
Comfortable
Don’t panic
Now or never
Oh, shit
Learn, learn and learn again

33 Million Livestock...

Interesting article about the Mongolian herding lifestyle-- attributing one of the country's major issues (urban migration) to climate change.

National Geographic Article


"There are 33 million livestock in Mongolia today, more than ten times the number of people."

Wind....

We've decided that the Mongolians are right. There ARE 4 seasons in Mongolia! Really Hot, Rainy and Dreary, Really Cold, and Really Windy. We don't mean to complain-- the weather's really not that unbareable... but it'd be nice to have some more "moderate" weather days... but since arriving, there have been 3. June 4, September 18, and March 9.

All weather issues aside, life has been good. We're busy with work projects, community projects, and the like. The days seem to fly by pretty quickly, and there is never enough time to accomplish what we want to do!

Advice?

I'm starting to get some emails from "incoming" Mongolia Peace Corps Trainees! How exciting, and astounding, actually to think we've been living here for almost a year!

Some answers to commonly asked questions and things I wished they had told us!

1) Yes, you do need to pack the VERY best long underwear money can buy.

2) If you're taller than 5'10 -- bring ALL the clothes and shoes you could possibly need for 2 years. You'll be wearing capri pants with 3/4 length shirts and plastic house shoes otherwise.

3) Don't spend your time at home studying the language. Peace Corps language training is pretty comprehensive and intense your first 3 months. Spend your time eating salad and deli subs and drinking slurpees and visiting with family and friends!

4) Prepare to be stared/gawked at. You will stand out here, regardless of how well you try to integrate. Babies will cry when they see you (ok, this only happened to me once), and women and children will want to touch your hair. It's endearing at first, gets a touch annoying at times, and eventually you grow to accept it as an everyday part of your Mongolian existence.

Thank you, Brett Favre

Today, Thursday, 6 March 2008, our legendary and beloved quarterback retired from the NFL. As a fan, owner and admirer, I am saddened that he will no longer suit up, but I am happy that he has finished his career on top, the greatest player in history. After 16 years with the Packers, we will always remember the great games, the memorable moments, and the amazing finishes. We will remember the Super Bowls, the championship games, the playoff appearances. We will remember the records. We will remember the leader, the team player,the iron man and the hero. We will remember how he inspired us. For me, however, what I will remember the most is how he played because he loved the game, and how I loved the game more because I could watch him play it.

Thank you, Brett.

(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)