Sunday, May 18
free at last
Here is a video made by an American who has lived here since 1999. A short documentary type movie on the recent events here. Okay, its not too short, as its 12 minutes, but a good explanation of the recent events here. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 14
the golden years
A little over a month ago I started conversational English classes at the local University here. In the past I have focused on grammar classes, but as my time is nearing the end, I decided it was best to just have a conversation class and avoid all the planning that grammar classes require. I have created the lessons for these classes from a combination of stuff I find online and a book I have. Many weeks so far I have finished my lesson prep without being satisfied with the topic or content, but without time or energy to do more. Each week I have drudgingly headed out to class, trying to come up with something more interesting, each time coming up with nothing.
Often in the middle of class I have even said to the students, “I didn’t see the conversation going this way, but its great.” Amazingly I have left each class surprised at how well the lesson went, shocked by how much the students talked and what I learned through their conversations.
One week my lesson topic was “The Golden Years.” I planned to talk about retirement and the pros and cons of forcing one to retire. The title, The Golden Years, wasn’t actually planned into my typed up lesson in any way. It was just the title of the lesson. Then as I started class I had a creative idea, I wrote “The Golden Years” on the board and started asking the students what they thought this meant.
In each class (I teach four classes of the same lesson) the students pretty much agreed that their “golden years” have already past and were when they were 17/18 years old. They think you are old when you reach about 50. One student is saving money for the future. No one thinks of what they will do or how they will survive when they are older. One group said the average age to die here is 57. Most said there is no point in working after you are 65. Some argued that experience isn’t that important in most jobs and that new technology has replaced the need for experience.
All of these comments surprised me, and even after I challenged what they said and played devil’s advocate in each situation, they usually didn’t change their ideas. I understand that these students have not lived in a stable society and do not know what the future holds. They don’t know what it will be like when they are older or if they will even find a job to start with. Why think about tomorrow when today has so many problems of its own? That’s the general consensus for the younger generation here. Yes, they plan for the near future, finishing school, getting a higher degree, finding a good job, starting a family, but that’s pretty much where it ends. Of course there are many exceptions to this generalization I have made, but this is the average from what I have gathered from my students.
I have thoroughly enjoyed these conversations I have been having with my students lately. After being here for nearly 5 years, I am still learning more about them each day.
I could go on about this topic and what I have learned from these students, but this is all I have time for today. I will leave you all that option to think about this further and what implications this has on our work here. I hope to write more about some of the other lessons soon.
Often in the middle of class I have even said to the students, “I didn’t see the conversation going this way, but its great.” Amazingly I have left each class surprised at how well the lesson went, shocked by how much the students talked and what I learned through their conversations.
One week my lesson topic was “The Golden Years.” I planned to talk about retirement and the pros and cons of forcing one to retire. The title, The Golden Years, wasn’t actually planned into my typed up lesson in any way. It was just the title of the lesson. Then as I started class I had a creative idea, I wrote “The Golden Years” on the board and started asking the students what they thought this meant.
In each class (I teach four classes of the same lesson) the students pretty much agreed that their “golden years” have already past and were when they were 17/18 years old. They think you are old when you reach about 50. One student is saving money for the future. No one thinks of what they will do or how they will survive when they are older. One group said the average age to die here is 57. Most said there is no point in working after you are 65. Some argued that experience isn’t that important in most jobs and that new technology has replaced the need for experience.
All of these comments surprised me, and even after I challenged what they said and played devil’s advocate in each situation, they usually didn’t change their ideas. I understand that these students have not lived in a stable society and do not know what the future holds. They don’t know what it will be like when they are older or if they will even find a job to start with. Why think about tomorrow when today has so many problems of its own? That’s the general consensus for the younger generation here. Yes, they plan for the near future, finishing school, getting a higher degree, finding a good job, starting a family, but that’s pretty much where it ends. Of course there are many exceptions to this generalization I have made, but this is the average from what I have gathered from my students.
I have thoroughly enjoyed these conversations I have been having with my students lately. After being here for nearly 5 years, I am still learning more about them each day.
I could go on about this topic and what I have learned from these students, but this is all I have time for today. I will leave you all that option to think about this further and what implications this has on our work here. I hope to write more about some of the other lessons soon.
Monday, May 12
Vendi Im - English subtitles
Here is a video I posted a couple months ago, but since it was in English, no one knew what they were talking about. Here is another video of the same song, with English subtitles. (Gotta love YouTube!)
Hope you all enjoy!
Monday, May 5
owen
My nephew is growing so fast! He has changed so much in the last two months since I saw him. A few more months and I will see him again...and I can't imagine how big he will be then.
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