exploring, examining, exchanging, expressing
Saturday, April 28, 2007
My Boys
I'm really starting to enjoy my Saturday class, even though I don't entirely like the idea of splitting my weekend. The students, though not incredibly motivated (they already have jobs, and their company is paying for the course), are well-educated and articulate. My job is simply to help them sounds more like North Americans, so their customers can understand them better. This means we spend almost no time on vocabulary and very little on grammar. We just talk. I correct their word use and give them tips on pronunciation. It's fun to start debates about Costa Rican political issues, such as CAFTA, drugs, and global warming. And because they work in IT, we inevitably veer off into discussions on technology, science fiction, and video games. A couple of them even whipped out Magic: The Gathering cards during our break and played a quick game. These are my people!

I think they're enjoying it too, which is important because they're giving up their Saturday morning for this. I need to make it worth their time. One of them asked me today: "Are you going to be our regular teacher?" And then he realized I might take his question the wrong way: "Not because I want another teacher! I think you're a good teacher." My school doesn't force teachers to work Saturdays; teaching this class is voluntary, so they're used to seeing different faces. I think they're surprised that I've shown up three weeks in a row. But I think I'll consider them "mine," unless I have travel plans some weekend. I think I can relate to this group better than the other teachers can, simply because of my prior work experience. And I get a kick out of hanging out with Tico computer geeks.

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