As you know, I am working part-time at a bilingual school just outside of Granada. Things are going well there although my schedule is even more complicated now that a teacher is out on leave. In order to get enough hours a week, I've been tossed around like a hot potato and worked with a few new teachers this week.
One English teacher I worked with asked me to conduct a lesson on chocolate. Delighted, I followed the textbook activity, but improvised quite a bit. I had to explain the word "spoonful" so that the students could understand how I consume Nutella on a daily basis. At the end of class they took a quiz that told them what level of chocoholic they are. They totaled their scores and I had the highest score of the whole class... Oops.
The second English teacher that I worked with asked me to teach vocabulary and dialogue for ordering food in a restaurant. They've been learning British English so no one understood me when I said "Would you like fries with that?... French fries? ... No idea?? Oh, excuse me... chips."
At the end of class the students had 5 minutes to ask questions. They were appalled at my ideal breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, coffee & juice. For them that is a lot to stomach in the morning. Another student asked if I spoke Spanish. I said "Very little" and the teacher, who wasn't in on my plan to deceive the students and get them to speak only in English, said "That's not true! You speak great Spanish!" My cover was blown! All the students erupted in a collective "Ooooooh!" and I turned bright red.
In addition to working at the school, I have taken on a few extra hours at a private academy. I had even less training for this position than I did for the first. I showed up 15 minutes before the lesson, was shown my room and then the first student arrived.
The first class is a group of five 4 year old boys. They are darling but obviously have very limited English. We practice colors, body parts and animals. There is one boy who when asked "How are you?", nods and replies "Luis". There is another boy who pronounces the color red by rolling the 'r' at the beginning: "Rrrrrred!" I have those students for 90 minutes which is a long, long time for 4 year olds.
The second class is one-on-one with a teenage girl. She only comes once a week because the rest of the school days she has violin or basketball practice. I've noticed that Spanish parents often like to load their children down with lots of activities. I feel bad for those who don't even have time to be a kid.
Finally, my third class is a group of six adults. They are all very good at English and very eager to learn. Before I went into the room, my boss told me that they are very picky, demanding and that they hated their last teacher so much that they wanted to walk out and get their money back. I was very freaked out, to say the least. Once we talked for 5 minutes, I realized that things would be okay. I think I am going to learn a lot from this group because they ask great questions that cause me to think.
On top of the bilingual school and private academy, I have taken on one more lesson with a 5 year old named Carmen. She is a riot! I try to speak to her just in English but she makes the funniest face and says "¡¿QUÉ?!" and I end up translating. I showed her a world map to point out Spain, Africa and my parents' home. A while later she says, "So you're from Africa?" I laughed and told her no. "Well, it's just that, my parents said a girl was coming from Africa and that her name was Elefante." I could not fight back my laughter as I corrected her and said "I'm from America and my name is Ellie."
Later, I told Carmen I thought she was funny. With a confused look on her face she said, "Funny??" so I said "Ha! Ha! Ha!" "Funny??? Ha? Ha? Ha?" So I translated for her and she said "Oh! Well that's because, when I'm older, I want to be a clown."
That's all, folks!
One English teacher I worked with asked me to conduct a lesson on chocolate. Delighted, I followed the textbook activity, but improvised quite a bit. I had to explain the word "spoonful" so that the students could understand how I consume Nutella on a daily basis. At the end of class they took a quiz that told them what level of chocoholic they are. They totaled their scores and I had the highest score of the whole class... Oops.
The second English teacher that I worked with asked me to teach vocabulary and dialogue for ordering food in a restaurant. They've been learning British English so no one understood me when I said "Would you like fries with that?... French fries? ... No idea?? Oh, excuse me... chips."
At the end of class the students had 5 minutes to ask questions. They were appalled at my ideal breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, coffee & juice. For them that is a lot to stomach in the morning. Another student asked if I spoke Spanish. I said "Very little" and the teacher, who wasn't in on my plan to deceive the students and get them to speak only in English, said "That's not true! You speak great Spanish!" My cover was blown! All the students erupted in a collective "Ooooooh!" and I turned bright red.
In addition to working at the school, I have taken on a few extra hours at a private academy. I had even less training for this position than I did for the first. I showed up 15 minutes before the lesson, was shown my room and then the first student arrived.
The first class is a group of five 4 year old boys. They are darling but obviously have very limited English. We practice colors, body parts and animals. There is one boy who when asked "How are you?", nods and replies "Luis". There is another boy who pronounces the color red by rolling the 'r' at the beginning: "Rrrrrred!" I have those students for 90 minutes which is a long, long time for 4 year olds.
The second class is one-on-one with a teenage girl. She only comes once a week because the rest of the school days she has violin or basketball practice. I've noticed that Spanish parents often like to load their children down with lots of activities. I feel bad for those who don't even have time to be a kid.
Finally, my third class is a group of six adults. They are all very good at English and very eager to learn. Before I went into the room, my boss told me that they are very picky, demanding and that they hated their last teacher so much that they wanted to walk out and get their money back. I was very freaked out, to say the least. Once we talked for 5 minutes, I realized that things would be okay. I think I am going to learn a lot from this group because they ask great questions that cause me to think.
On top of the bilingual school and private academy, I have taken on one more lesson with a 5 year old named Carmen. She is a riot! I try to speak to her just in English but she makes the funniest face and says "¡¿QUÉ?!" and I end up translating. I showed her a world map to point out Spain, Africa and my parents' home. A while later she says, "So you're from Africa?" I laughed and told her no. "Well, it's just that, my parents said a girl was coming from Africa and that her name was Elefante." I could not fight back my laughter as I corrected her and said "I'm from America and my name is Ellie."
Later, I told Carmen I thought she was funny. With a confused look on her face she said, "Funny??" so I said "Ha! Ha! Ha!" "Funny??? Ha? Ha? Ha?" So I translated for her and she said "Oh! Well that's because, when I'm older, I want to be a clown."
That's all, folks!
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