Teaching English

Well so far, I have taught two classes to the Kathoolei Karen Baptist Bible School and College (KKBBSC (yeah this will be the only time that I actually type that out)) students, and I have not been in contact with the leaders of the Karen since I got dropped off here last Thursday. They never told me what part of the English language I would be teaching the students, such as grammar, vocabulary, written English, etcetera, until about 5 minutes before my class. This left me rather unprepared for my first class, so I thought that I would go over some vocabulary, because I also didn't know how much English they have already learned. After starting with 'dog' and 'cat', we worked our with just about all of my students is grammar and enunciation/pronunciation when they speak, which they are very reluctant to do in English, for fea way up to 'telecommunication' and 'acronym' as I discovered that the number of words in their vocabulary wasn't the problem. The main issuer of being wrong or something like that. Anyways... after going over grammar with all 55 of my students (oh yeah I forgot to mention that I have 55 students, or is it 56, I'm not sure), I got this brilliant idea to get them to write a small essay about themselves, like how long they have been in the camp, their families, favourite foods, ect. Well this was sort of a bad idea for two reasons, one being that I would have to mark the essays after they were done writing them, which isn't really that bad once I decided to stop being so lazy. The main reason that I think it might be a bad idea, but still a good one at the same time, was that once I started marking and deciphered what they had written, it was what was written on the pages that made the notion regrettable. There are so many stories about their families that talk about the loss of siblings (one person lost 6 siblings at the hand of the army), parents, or spouses (one lady lost her husband six months after she had given birth to their second son), either from disease, famine or the Burmese army. There are also stories about family members being dismembered, or tortured. Well all that I can really say that it makes for a hard read (I have only finished marking 30), and that is where I am divided on the idea of the essay. On the one hand I get to know the students better, and on the other, they get to bring up the bitter past. Oh well, it is too late now, so I will just try to use this experience for good, or something like that.

After yesterday and writing about the not so pleasant past, I gave them a spelling quiz from the words we reviewed yesterday (yeah! more marking). After that it was all talk, all day. I started off with a basic greeting converstion, in groups of two (a script for person 1 and 2, and then they switch), and went on to a telephone converstion with the same format. I marked simply on participation, if you tried to speak English you got a 10/10. After these two small speaking exercises, it was on to making a script for a skit, practising the skit and then performing it in front of the class, which ended up taking the rest of the time of the class (a good way to chew time). The basic intructions were that they had to make the skit in some relation to a restuarant and each person in the group had to say at least 3 lines. It was very entertaining to watch all of the groups perform, from the shy and quiet woman's group, to the rowdy men's group, who were funny and entertaining but didn't follow any of the two instructions. Well all in all, it definitely beat having to mark more papers, and was alot more fun to watch. The one thing that I haven't got down yet (yeah I know there is probably more than one), is how to keep track of attendance, and the marks at the same time, so I decided that I can't really, so I am going to split them up, which seems to make more sense to me anyways.

Well since I don't know what else to ramble on about, I think I will call it quits for now. Oh yeah, on Friday classes were canceled because only a third or half the students showed up. On Saturday I went to Mae Sot (the nearest Thai town) and bought a guitar and lost my guide, who got back to the camp about 5 minute before me (it was fun day). Sunday I went to the local Karen Baptist church (they have all kinds of churches in Mae La (the camp)), and listen to a service in Karen, and sang (well not really) Karen-translated hymns. Oh, one last thing, on Monday after class, I went to the market to buy myself some rotti (an East Indian desert thingy (yeah I said thingy and I am an English teacher (and yeah I am using triple brackets, because it's my blog and I can if I want to))), and that was all fine, except when I was coming back and I came to 7 way intersection, where most of the paths looked the same. I am sure you can guess what happened next. While I joyfully ate my rotti, and smiled at everyone in sight, I confidently went down the completely wrong path and got completely lost. I almost got even further lost on the way back, when I mistakenly retraced my steps down another path, but knew I had made a wrong turn when I got to a UN office (the office sticks out more than the huts do). Finally I made it back to the 7 way intersection a choose a path that was more right, but not completely, and made the decision to ask for help from people who are fluent in Karen and not a whole lot else. I ended up being guided out by a 12 yr old girl, and her little brother (I think he was her brother), after I explained that I wanted to cross the bridge to Zone C by using a nearby little open sewage stream (it smelled g-r-eat!!); and that is the story of how I got lost (and found) in the largest refugee camp in Thailand. While that's all for now and all that, so God bless you all (I know I say that every time, but I do mean it sincerely).

Pics (top to bottom as usual): The blackboard that I write on at the front of my open walled classroom; a third of the stairs that lead to my classroom; another pic of the mountain backdrop just for fun; a toilet in the ground, how we have to go to the bathroom/restroom/washroom (take your pick), so I am sure you can guess what you have to do when you have to go; my new bed in my new bedroom (it consists of three comforters as a mattress, and one more as a blanket, with overstuffed pillows that slide out from your head, and is even equipped with a mosquito net); the front of the church that I attended on Sunday, with the Baptist pastor preaching in Karen (it sounded like like a good sermon, but I am not really sure); my office (or more just a pile of chairs with my the students papers on them and a dictionary from the library for an even writing surface, all shoved in the corner of my new bedroom (the reason I like my new bedroom is that I actually have some privacy to do things like, I don't know, change)); a Karen Baptist hymnal (if you click on the pic, it should enlarge and you might be able to see that it is on pg 299-300); a water-over flow channel in Mae Sot, where I am right now well I upload these pics (at 10:25 pm, Friday, Jan. 19, 2007, Thailand time or 7:26 am Vancouver time, the same day (so good morning to you)); Sean Okelley, an engineer from north of Sacramento, California, who also stays in KKBBSC, Mae La (he works for Border Green Energy Team, and basically teaches students of a college in the camp how to set up solar power systems).