English Class

Never say "Never!"  --  I have always been short of patience and swore that I would NEVER be a teacher to anyone or anything.  This, I use to say out loud to my younger siblings as I helped them with their homework when they were in elementary school.  Because I grew up in a school system where neatness, legibility of writing and exact, complete work is an ABSOLUTE must...it took me awhile to understand abbreviated answers, dangling sentences and homework papers riddled with erasure marks.

"Why," I would say to my siblings then, and now to my children as well --"our teachers would whack our hands with a ruler" were we to do the above...much less, forget to do an assignment -- that was totally unheard of!!! So what happened to me?

I have been an educator for almost two decades...poetic justice in action, perhaps.  Despite my degree in English, among other things -- I remembered that my goal was to be a nomadic traveler, roaming the world in search of people and stories.  Romantic idealism of what a writer should be doing ... it seemed like a doable plan except for one thing...I started a family and then began working as a community organizer, so that was that!

Building a community is not an over night thing -- neither is it something that one can readily walk away from. So here I am, having played many roles and continuing to wear many hats...

I teach an English class for non-English speakers in our community.  As design would have it, my class is ALL women, ranging from 16 to 60 something.  As diverse in age, my students are just as diverse in culture: from the Middle East, Indo-Pakistan to the continent of  Africa, I have come to appreciate what my students have to teach me -- while I , in turn teach them to read, write and speak in a language that is so foreign to their ears, lips and hands.  Some of our lessons verge on absolute comedy -- laughter being the medium of connection that binds all of us as comrades and family.

  Theories are one thing, practice is another.  I can honestly appreciate the tools I learned from the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification program I took; implementation is, however another can of worms...I love the freedom to be creative and playful with the exercises I use to have my students "practice speaking English."

I am amazed at the level of commitment, hard-work and determination that ALL the women have in learning a new language.  A couple of the older students were illiterate -- not having gone to school in their countries of origin; speaking their language but not being able to read and write...so here they are: Beginning Beginning English class.  Learning the alphabet and learning the English words for say: hat, chicken, sundry body parts, days of the week, months and counting to 100.  They are learning how to form letters and hold a pencil. Our second year finds us spelling letter by letter learned vocabulary words.

Those that are at a higher functioning level are becoming experts at conjugating irregular verbs and writing descriptively up to a paragraph...engaging each other in animated conversation complete  with hand gestures and facial expressions on subjects such as:  describe how you make "chapati" or what is your recipe for "chicken biryani"?

Then there are those special moments when we actually get to demonstrate and act out vocabulary words -- say for example, the verb "sing" -- I had each student choose any song from their country.  With each one's turn,  faces glowed with  remembrance  -- each song reflecting memories of their homes or their childhood.  For a brief moment, we are carried along the landscapes of Syria, the mountains of Afghanistan and Yemen, the fertile forests of Bissau and even the flowing rivers of Bangladesh...

I marvel at the richness of each person's stories and unique personalities.  For two hours -- twice a week, we become immersed in a discovery of newly found words -- exciting, tedious and frustrating at times, but just as beautiful in creating and building bridges to understanding -- no matter where we are from.