Today (Wednesday) was a busy day. I went to three classes today that I’m likely to be quite involved in going forward. The first one is a small course for elementary school teachers. I wrote about it before. The focus is on not only improving the students’ English, but also on giving them ideas for teaching English to young children. There are about 5 different sections of this class and they each meet only three times for three hours each meeting. I may only go to the first meeting of each section.
The second class is cultural studies of the US and the UK. I introduced myself and showed some pictures of my hometown and my family. Then each student said something about what they think of when they think of America. The students thought of big cars and trucks, fast food, obesity, bad healthcare, Hollywood, and capitalism. They also thought of wide open spaces, famous places, and cultural diversity. In terms of working, Americans appear goal oriented and competitive. I was asked to comment about each item.
The last class was a general English improvement class that went similarly to the last one, except that we talked a bit about books we’ve read and books they could recommend for me. We also chatted casually a bit about the students’ thoughts about the US and we talked about what Americans think about Austria: lederhosen, yodeling, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Sound of Music.
On Friday afternoon, I will participate in a similar lesson. In a few weeks, I might do a lesson on Halloween and a lesson on Elementary schools in the US. I’ll help some classes write children’s books and I will meet up with students in groups of two to do a bit of conversation. It think it could be fun.
So let me get this straight. You need to know the ins and outs of capitalism, all about our broken healthcare system, why our educational system is falling behind the rest of the world’s, etc. You have to set the example of an American for these students? Like………..NO PRESSURE!