Haven't blogged in a while...

O.k. so I haven't blogged about just myself in a while so I thought what the heck --- I might as well.

For the past two months Salem and I have been in Guatemala. For the most part she's been the one having all the educational experiences. She's been doing her student teaching at a elementary and high school called Colegio Boston near Ciudad Vieja. She has been having a great time and has been doing a wonderful job. A couple weeks ago when her parents were visiting, the three of us tagged along with her to school. It was a lot of fun and quite amazing to be able to watch my wife do something I know she loves so much. Usually I just get to hear about it...on that day I got to see her in action. I loved it! :)

As for my own educational experiences here in Guatemala I've had a few and they've taught me a lot. First is the tutoring that I started about a month ago. I began with one student, a sixteen year-old kid whose had English classes for a long time, and then I added two other students who are younger and have less experience with English. The older student is really easy to talk with and almost a breeze to study English with. For the most part with him my goal has been perfecting and tweaking what he's already learned in his English classes. I have also tried my best to help prepare him for the TOEFL test - an English for primary foreign language speakers used like an entrance exam for U.S. colleges and universities. My other two students are about the same age, but the difference in how they were taught English is evident. One student goes to a school that teaches English almost like an immersion program -- i.e. the school does its best to hire strong English speakers as teachers to influence their students comprehension of English. The other student goes to a primarily Spanish school that teaches English by using Spanish - similar to how Spanish is taught in almost every U.S. school. The down side to the second approach is that the teachers may not have a very strong background in English and thus their influence in English is not very strong either. Both these students are on a similar level of English speaking ability, but it is easily apparent that one comprehends more than the other when spoken to in English. No matter what, it is also apparent that all of my students need to speak more English in practical or real-life settings. That's been a big part of my "un-paid" duties with these kids. I hang out with them and play soccer or video games with them --- all the while speaking almost entirely in English so that they can use what they do know of English in a real-life setting. This also has offered me the opportunity to try to use my blossoming abilities in speaking Spanish...a subject on which I will write at more length at a future date. In the meantime I need to go to bed.
Peace,
LP