We just had our third week of English classes with the kiddos this past Saturday. They are truly a riot! I work with kids ranging from ages 3-9 who are in the lowest level English classes. Kevin works with the older, higher level kids. We are at the school on Saturdays from 8-12 in the morning and then in the afternoon from 3-5. It is a full day, but these little kids make it such fun.
I just wanted to take a moment to highlight some of my favorite little companions:
Jacob- He is my favorite little boy! He's about five years old and is the quietest little guy. He shows up to class early and just appears at my side, grabbing for my hand. He knows very little English so he just repeats everything I say to him:
Hello Jacob. How are you today?
Hello Jacob. How are you today?
Now you say, "I'm doing well."
Now you say, "I'm doing well."
It's somewhat reminiscent of the repeating game I'm sure we all used to drive our parents crazy with when we were younger, but the annoyance factor dissipates quickly when he looks up at me with those big brown eyes!
Paul- This is the most precocious Asian kid I've ever met! He is the son of one of our national teachers, so his English is quite advanced. He is afraid of elevators so everyday after class, we run down 8 flights of stairs together to wait for his dad at the bottom floor. This past Saturday, he decided to wear his hat with the ends turned up instead of covering his ears. When we asked him why he was doing this, he said he was Captain Hook.
See you later Captain Hook! we said.
Goodbye Smee! he said.
Now the other great thing about being an English teacher here is that you get to assign English names to the students. Every Saturday, I'm surrounded by some of my favorite people from home: Sarah, Beth (who cries during every class), Mark (who pronounces his name with a defiant "Mark-uh" at the end), and Chris (who was originally named Christopher but decided it was too long, so we changed it to Chris but then I guess he decided he didn't like that either so he changed it to Andy but decided to spell it Aady). I tried to name a Shannon but the mom didn't much care for it and chose Alice instead (sorry Shan!)
So those are my little friends who hang out with me on Saturdays!
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4 comments:
I love that Chris changed his name to Andy. That's hilarious... and totally logical. :)
Did Andy-Chris start writing his name on the feet of all his toys? Why wouldn't he want to be Chris, the bestest person I know? Tell him that if he sticks with the name Chris, he'll be just as tall as Mr. Peek someday... ;)
That's fun! I tried to name someone "Laurel" and they pronounced it "Roller." Nevermind. You're Kim. :)
What a FUN thing! I don't take offense, I just wonder if "Shannon" sounds like something else in chinese?
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