Great Day

You know, I let the whole gas supply thing take over. I had such a great day with the students today, I was going to post about that, and then forgot when I heard about school being canceled.

So, the day was great. Thursday is my busiest day with 6 classes in a row, with 10 minute breaks between them. It's amazing how much can be accomplished in those 1o minutes, such as going from one building to another, making copies for the next class, signing documents for pay, talking to students about Hungarian or English words, or making arrangements to teach them 1-1, talking to teachers about teaching, the economy and the gas crisis. But all of that was not what was so great about today.

Each class started with a genuine welcome from the students (and from me to them) and all classes but one ended feeling like a success -- that's a pretty good record for me. But it wasn't just the lessons that were good - it was the interaction with and between the students. Many of the classes were quite interested in my trip to Paris and asked questions about it. (Some of course were trying to avoid the lesson, but the lesson was about transportation, so it was ok!) They all responded about what they had done over break - most of them relaxed. Out of all the classes that I asked, only one person had read a book, and that was the Canadian exchange student!

In one of the more advanced classes, I divided the students into two groups, and they really worked well together. It was fun seeing them work as teams. They were writing the good/bad points of living in the city/country on the board. When they were done, on the city bad list was "bitches"....hmmm. So I asked - it couldn't be "beaches" could it? No, that didn't work. Do you mean women who are mean and angry? No, they meant, you know, (giggle, giggle) young woman, who, you know (giggle giggle)..... OH, I said, you mean prostitutes! After furiously flipping pages in their dictionaries, they agreed - that is what they meant. So, as I said before, you've got to go with what you got....so I also taught them "hooker".

In another class, we were talking about what everyone did on New Year's Eve. One girl said she celebrated with her family and they ate traditional foods. Then she tried to tell me what the traditional foods were, but the class noise level increased and she was in the back of the room, so I couldn't hear her. She then came up with a drawing and words on her notebook. It was a picture of a sausage (looked almost like an English Christmas cracker) and the word "weenie". She asked if it was a weenie or a sausage. I explained that we call them sausages, and that "weenie" probably wouldn't be a good word to use with American kids, because it meant something else - a part of a boys body. She kind of looked at me and went back to her desk. A few minutes later she is back there giggling, showing her seat mate something on her phone/everything (dictionary). Pretty soon there is this whispering and then giggling and then the whole class went up in laughter! Remember, these are high school kids I am dealing with, so if it seems I am always a bit off color, it just kind of goes with the territory: high school students and the American English teacher who is here to teach them customs, idioms, slang and natural use of the language!

At the end of one class as the students for the next lesson were coming into the room, and I was still picking up my things, the students started gathering around my desk. These were not my students, but students for another subject. I said hello, and asked how they were. The response was Nem Angolul -- no English. "Oh, German?", I asked. Blank looks. "Ne'm..something", I asked... "Hmmm, oh egan, Ne'met - German", they said. I said: "Guten Morgen." They laughed and replied, "Guten Tag." I should have left well enough alone, but I felt compelled to tell them that Molly speaks German. Couldn't remember the word for daughter, messed up the pronunciation of the word for speak.... but eventually with help of the dictionary, we got there...so much for my 10 minute break to prepare for the next class!

In another class where I needed two students to read a dialogue, one boy being funny said he would read the part of "Maria" in the dialogue. I said ok. When he finally finished, I couldn't help but to giggle and ask if it was more work than he thought -- the part for Maria had new vocabulary and twice as much as the part of the other person in the dialogue!

To top off the day, when I went to do the lesson in the dormitory, a boy who've I met a few times, but takes German, asked if he could come to the classes too! He is just starting English this year and wants to practice more. We talked for a few minutes and I was really impressed by how well he was doing. It amazes me that these kids take two languages and are able to pass at least one of them at the "first cert" level, meaning well enough to study in English at the University.