I'm a teacher! I couldn't ask for better students. I'm at an orphanage teaching 17 -21 year olds. The number of students varies because it is not mandatory. I usually have a class between 6 and 9 students. They are there because they really want to learn - I couldn't ask for better students.
On the first day the students told me they wanted to learn conversations about tourism and about businesses. Last week I taught them about being a tourist and a tour guide. Every day I brought in a world map and some pictures of landmarks from different countries - Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat, etc. At least one person knew where each one belonged except for the Sears Tower. It started a good discussion about traveling and the world. No one has even been to Angkor Wat much less out of the country. We also worked on dialogues you would use while traveling.
This week I am teaching them about working / shopping in an electronic store and being in an airport. There is no textbook so I come up with my own lessons. I enjoy putting the lesson together. It's nice to have the freedom to do what I want and LanguageCorps definitely prepared me for this during the first 2 weeks. In China I will have a textbook to teach from - hopefully I can still be creative with my lessons.
Last Friday their assignment was to take me on a tour of the orphanage. After they gave me a tour of where they live I showed them pictures of my house - with snow - and pictures of my family. They had some questions. The question that stuck out the most - 'Your sister married before you???' This was after they learned she is my younger sister. It was funny.
One day we worked on pronouncing banana. Their pronunciations are usually so so but one kid said banana with my mid western accent and everything. I tried not to laugh but it was pretty darn funny to hear it come out of his mouth that way. They try so hard to pronounce words just right and sometimes it just sounds really funny. I do my best to keep a straight face - most of the time.
They are good kids and I'm really grateful I've been their teacher - even if it was just for 2 short weeks.
We also have a Chinese class everyday. It can be frustrating. The information presented each day is too much for a beginner. So I'm trying to only memorize what would be most helpful when I arrive in China. At least I'm learning pronunciations and I will have a bit of a background when I get there. I can't believe my time is here is almost up!
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