Our classes end earlier in the year than most, and we now have individual interviews and the written final exam to work on now.
The following pictures will speak for themselves. We have truly enjoyed the students and they have behaved perfectly for us.
Out of my 75 students, only 3 have had a foreign teacher before. We were a novelty, both on a personal level and on a teaching level.
It took a good month for them to relax and feel free to speak, which is necessary in an oral English class. Finally they realized that many
of the activities, which they (and I) thought were frivolous were actually forcing them to communicate with one another. More than anything,
the students want to be understood in English, and we made headway. The writing class was more structured and they found it more difficult, although their writing is generally better than their speaking. Many expressed gratitude for finding the confidence to even try to talk using
English. And, when a student comes up and says, "Mrs. Wright, you look beautiful today," how can you not just love the job. One class gave Don a cup with all the student's names written on it.
There were 2 students who, I am convinced, would have been red guards 45 years ago, and they even came around and were receptive
learners, which I took as a personal victory.
These pictures look like we were just having fun, but we really did do a lot of work.
Most of the students were male since this university specialized in the sciences. Also, many were older, which
made learning English very difficult. Also, many were juggling work along with PhD studies.
I am sending photos in two postings because we cannot send a large message at once.
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