Random Thoughts

I've been very busy since school has started again, but last night was very restful and I have enough energy to put semi coherent thoughts down again.

*There was a horrifying earthquake and tsunami this week in Japan. Adding to the already heartbreaking tragedy has been an out of control nuclear fiasco at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Japan gets a lot of credit for being a very smart country, but I have to take exception. How smart is it to build nuclear power plant in one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world? On top of that, they build it at sea level. What could possibly go wrong, right? Weren't they thinking about tsunamis? I read The Big Wave when I was a kid. It's about a tsunami that wipes out a village in (you guessed it) Japan! The word "tsunami" which we all use now instead of "tidal wave" is a Japanese word that has become a part of the world vocabulary because it happens a lot, and Japan is famous for them!

*The US has joined NATO in bombing Libya's loony leader in order to thwart him in his effort to maintain power in his oil sodden patch of desert. We are supporting the rabble whose membership is unknown to us but are reported to include anti American elements. We already have two wars going on, and we are laying off teachers, police and firefighters, but hey, Hat Trick!

Meanwhile in Bahrain, pro democracy protesters are being gunned down but it's OK because Bahrain is our ally.

*When I help our 12 year old with his English homework I am struck by how strangely they try to teach English here. There appears to be a deliberate effort to make it a lot more difficult than it should be. There are multiple choice grammar questions involving seldom used phrases that Will Shortz would happily include in the puzzle page of the New York Times. They also make it extra interesting by occasionally making none of the answers correct, so that you have to rely on your psychic powers to divine the intention of the scholar who was responsible for this brain buster. Meanwhile, no effort is made to actually teach the kids to speak English. Instead they are preparing them to take tests which consist of hundreds of questions just like these. Meanwhile I have sophomores in the top high school in the region who are challenged putting a three word sentence together. Job security for me!!

*When you think of the Cheap Chinese Crap that Wal Mart sells in the US, remember that the Cheap Chinese Crap that discount stores sell here is crappier. In fact, the stuff at Wal Mart here looks pretty good!

*I hope they don't use Cheap Chinese Crap when they build their nuclear power plants and high speed trains!

*iPods are made in China.

Naming Kids

One of the thrills of teaching English is helping kids choose an "English name". I remember in Spanish class mine was "Miguel", which was the closest thing they could find to my handle. I've met a few unfortunate names here. One America bound freshman college student had named himself "Attack". Great ice breaker when he got to Missouri. I was able to convince one of my middle school girls to change "Krusty" to "Kristy", but my favorite was a ten year old boy named "Wendy".

I have a list of the most popular American boys and girls names, and I have helped kids and/or parents choose names. With the kindergarten kids I have even been entrusted to choose a name for them. There are times I've felt like Brigham Young naming his brood.

I have a class with a Sonny and a Cher (not my doing!). I have Sophie, Mary, Harry, Thomas, Emma, Elizabeth, Wendy, Lucy, Kyle, Kevin, Kaden, Megan, Molly, Eric, Tina, and many more. Since the list is American, there are names that are not exactly English in origin, and one little boy has the name his parents chose for him, a fine American name....Diego.

bizzy, bizzy, bizzy

I've achieved maximum teaching output, I think. I have four classes a day at the middle school, Monday through Friday. Saturdays I teach 3 kindergarten classes, plus one private lesson. Private lessons on Monday and Friday nights and kindergarten on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays nights. Yow!

I get Sunday off, and actually get some time off from middle school when they do their monthly tests. Plus there are always the holidays, like Tomb Cleaning Day, which happened coincidently on Easter.

I really like the kindergarten classes, because 4 and 5 year old kids have brains like sponges. The original class that started in February is now making sentences like "He is reading a book." That's a lot farther along than they get in most primary schools by grade 4.

I think the biggest problem they have in teaching in the public schools is aiming everything toward written tests. There is zero emphasis on speaking. Classes are large, so it's difficult. They also seem to think that if they throw enough words at the students they are accomplishing something. I've seen fifth grade textbooks that teaching all the Olympic sports like long jump and Greco Roman wrestling, but the kids cannot say, "I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

The kindergarten classes are rapidly multiplying, but I am maxed out on time and there are no foreign teachers to fill any new demand. I know there are a lot of teachers in the US getting laid off. Will they be coming here?

Holiday Fun Work

Click the pix for larger picture.

A group of parents asked me to teach their preschool kids during the holidays. No problemo. They have rented a nice preschool classroom at one of the universities here. It is well equipped and kid friendly. We do an hour a day, which is about all 4 year olds can do with their ferret like attention spans. We do about ten minutes of lesson, followed by a Sesame Street clip, more lesson, then Donald Duck, a song, a game, lesson, Betty Boop, bathroom, etc. Time flies by, and we all have fun. We went to the park this morning, which was a lot of fun without a lot of learning getting done. Sometimes fun trumps knowledge.