though it may closely resemble encoded prompts between cold war allies, the numbers that title this blog (8 - 0 - 17 - 2 if you're not title-savvy) are actually the respective tallies of attendance for my first day of classes as an english teacher at duocUC mall plaza vespucio. palabra. ... (palabra = "word" in spanish, though it does not translate at all. regardless, us worldTeachers, actually about 3 of us, insist on saying it, much to the chagrin of most of the country. after we had established that "palabra" would be used in place of "word" in order to express approval or satisfaction, we wore told that by a trustworthy chilean that in a dubbed episode of 'the simpsons' in which bart utters the common colloquialism "word," it was in fact translated to "palabra." palabra to your mother on that one chile. this aside is incredibly long).
so yes, i am now a teacher. i am now living with a family that speaks zero to no english. i am now with closet. i now live out of said closet instead of living out of a bag. i now know the taste of civilization. i am now sharing a bathroom with a single person (previously sharing one with 10-15 depending on the day and who was hanging out on the fourth floor of the andes hostel). i now live a significant distance from anyone i would call a friendo. i am now in the reality of this program. no blanket assessments as of yet, i'm trying to avoid that. like most things in life, there's good and bad. if that was some form of blanket assessment, i apologize.
so today (march 10th, 2008, the year of our lord) was my first day of teaching. on mondays, i teach four classes. on tuesdays i teach none. on wednesday i teach five classes. on thursday i teach none. on fridays, and take note, because this is my favorite part of the whole voluntexperience, i teach one class that begins at 9:15PM and ends at 10:45PM.
what did you just say sean? that last part about the night class on fridays?
which part? sorry, i'm not sure what your question is...
umm, what time do you teach on friday nights amigo?
oh, right, that. the class i teach on friday nights is from 9:15 to 10:45 PM.
right. good thing it's only for the next 5 months.
i couldn't agree more.
good times. if ever i need a reminder that i am in fact a volunteer, nothing like my friday class to do the trick. also, no better way to spend your birthday in a foreign land (see: this friday). lonely planet recommends and i quote, "when bored on your birthday in a foreign country, find disinterested vocational school students who have been forced into your class and impose english on their indifferent faces" (Lonely Planet Chile 45).*
english at duocUC is interesting. it's pretty much a vocational or career-centered school: auditing, computer networking, business administration, marketing, nursing, and the like. english is mandated by the school, but wholly subjugated to other career-oriented programs. this milieu, propagated by the institution itself, sets the tone for english classes themselves. overall, and this is solely based on my first day teaching four classes, one of which no one showed up to (case in point), duocUC students are not seriously interested in learning english. i know this because i only recently became interested in learning spanish. when one is actually interested in learning a language, one writes a grizzip of things down. i had to seriously suggest and repeat that certain obviously important things i wrote on our dear white boards were worth my students' while to take note of in their notebooks.
all that being said, today was a good day, i didn't even have to use my AK. that being said, one of the worldTeach volunteers recently told me that he owns and often operates his AK-47 (he shoots inanimate objects, for now). goes to show how diverse the group is i guess. the polar opposite of AK-owner would be myself i guess (i've never shot or held a real gun, i think).
but i digress, today was a good day. the students were generally respectful and participated to the best of their abilities. i would even go as far to say that some where enthusiastic and that was inspiring. duocUC is very senior year of high school/junior college to me, which makes sense. the students i've had so far have been generally young (18-22) with a handful of exceptions. most of them have a very, very basic grasp of rudimentary english and the rest look at me like i'm a crazy person when i talk. i foresee many a challenge and don't quite know how i ended up here, but know that i saw it coming.
* dear lonely planet, please don't sue me for blaspheming your traveller assisting asses.
so yes, i am now a teacher. i am now living with a family that speaks zero to no english. i am now with closet. i now live out of said closet instead of living out of a bag. i now know the taste of civilization. i am now sharing a bathroom with a single person (previously sharing one with 10-15 depending on the day and who was hanging out on the fourth floor of the andes hostel). i now live a significant distance from anyone i would call a friendo. i am now in the reality of this program. no blanket assessments as of yet, i'm trying to avoid that. like most things in life, there's good and bad. if that was some form of blanket assessment, i apologize.
so today (march 10th, 2008, the year of our lord) was my first day of teaching. on mondays, i teach four classes. on tuesdays i teach none. on wednesday i teach five classes. on thursday i teach none. on fridays, and take note, because this is my favorite part of the whole voluntexperience, i teach one class that begins at 9:15PM and ends at 10:45PM.
what did you just say sean? that last part about the night class on fridays?
which part? sorry, i'm not sure what your question is...
umm, what time do you teach on friday nights amigo?
oh, right, that. the class i teach on friday nights is from 9:15 to 10:45 PM.
right. good thing it's only for the next 5 months.
i couldn't agree more.
good times. if ever i need a reminder that i am in fact a volunteer, nothing like my friday class to do the trick. also, no better way to spend your birthday in a foreign land (see: this friday). lonely planet recommends and i quote, "when bored on your birthday in a foreign country, find disinterested vocational school students who have been forced into your class and impose english on their indifferent faces" (Lonely Planet Chile 45).*
english at duocUC is interesting. it's pretty much a vocational or career-centered school: auditing, computer networking, business administration, marketing, nursing, and the like. english is mandated by the school, but wholly subjugated to other career-oriented programs. this milieu, propagated by the institution itself, sets the tone for english classes themselves. overall, and this is solely based on my first day teaching four classes, one of which no one showed up to (case in point), duocUC students are not seriously interested in learning english. i know this because i only recently became interested in learning spanish. when one is actually interested in learning a language, one writes a grizzip of things down. i had to seriously suggest and repeat that certain obviously important things i wrote on our dear white boards were worth my students' while to take note of in their notebooks.
all that being said, today was a good day, i didn't even have to use my AK. that being said, one of the worldTeach volunteers recently told me that he owns and often operates his AK-47 (he shoots inanimate objects, for now). goes to show how diverse the group is i guess. the polar opposite of AK-owner would be myself i guess (i've never shot or held a real gun, i think).
but i digress, today was a good day. the students were generally respectful and participated to the best of their abilities. i would even go as far to say that some where enthusiastic and that was inspiring. duocUC is very senior year of high school/junior college to me, which makes sense. the students i've had so far have been generally young (18-22) with a handful of exceptions. most of them have a very, very basic grasp of rudimentary english and the rest look at me like i'm a crazy person when i talk. i foresee many a challenge and don't quite know how i ended up here, but know that i saw it coming.
* dear lonely planet, please don't sue me for blaspheming your traveller assisting asses.
looks like nicole c had a little extra time! love, kelly
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