I walk into class with an ovation from my new students.
“Good Morning! How are you?”
In unison: “Fine, thank you, and you?”
“Oh, I’m great. I’m so excited to meet you.”
A few students: “Nice to mee-ta you.” (I love how English is spoken as a tonal language here…)
Some students: “Can I make-ah friends with you?”
“Nice to meet you too. Of course we can be friends. My name is Bethany.”
Students: “I know, I know. Bessssssssany.” (By this point, it's likely they'd all seen a copy of my passport as a "cultural relic" or something.)
“Some students say Bessssssany, but no no no, this is not my name.” Students laugh. “It’s BeTHany.” [shout out for the “TH” sound—it’s beautiful!]
A couple of boys: “Sexy, So beautiful!”
“I am from America.”
A few students: “Welcome to our country!” “Ohhh! Ah-mah-rica!”
“I came here one year ago.”
Several students: [consulting each other] “One year? One year ago? What meaning?”
[I translate my previous sentence into their language.]
Students: “Ooh! Do you know our language? So ca-lever!”
“I came here because I wanted to travel. I came here because I wanted to teach. I came here because I wanted to make new friends. “
One boy: “A boy fa-rend?”
“No. I do not need a boyfriend. I came here with my best friend. He is my husband. His name is Austin.”
Students: “Ooooooh!”
One boy: “Is he more be-u-ti-ful than me?
“I think so.”
The boy: “I don’t thin-ka so!”
Now that we’d exhausted the scope of many students’ English, it was time to begin today’s lesson.
“Good Morning! How are you?”
In unison: “Fine, thank you, and you?”
“Oh, I’m great. I’m so excited to meet you.”
A few students: “Nice to mee-ta you.” (I love how English is spoken as a tonal language here…)
Some students: “Can I make-ah friends with you?”
“Nice to meet you too. Of course we can be friends. My name is Bethany.”
Students: “I know, I know. Bessssssssany.” (By this point, it's likely they'd all seen a copy of my passport as a "cultural relic" or something.)
“Some students say Bessssssany, but no no no, this is not my name.” Students laugh. “It’s BeTHany.” [shout out for the “TH” sound—it’s beautiful!]
A couple of boys: “Sexy, So beautiful!”
“I am from America.”
A few students: “Welcome to our country!” “Ohhh! Ah-mah-rica!”
“I came here one year ago.”
Several students: [consulting each other] “One year? One year ago? What meaning?”
[I translate my previous sentence into their language.]
Students: “Ooh! Do you know our language? So ca-lever!”
“I came here because I wanted to travel. I came here because I wanted to teach. I came here because I wanted to make new friends. “
One boy: “A boy fa-rend?”
“No. I do not need a boyfriend. I came here with my best friend. He is my husband. His name is Austin.”
Students: “Ooooooh!”
One boy: “Is he more be-u-ti-ful than me?
“I think so.”
The boy: “I don’t thin-ka so!”
Now that we’d exhausted the scope of many students’ English, it was time to begin today’s lesson.
To the left, a construction site. To the right, my classroom building. Lovely. Just lovely. Last Thursday there were literally 4 guys outside my window banging on steel.