Teaching English in Thailand: Day 8, Sleepy Teachers

Day 8: 1st July

Good afternoon teacher, how are you?

I’m fine, thank you. How are you?

Fine, thank you.

Sit down please.

This is how every lesson begins in my Thai school, and I think it is the same in most other Thai schools. Someday soon, I hope to teach the children (so that they understand) the meaning of “fine” and how they can say, “I’m good” if they like! I try to over emphasise how GOOD I am so that they can copy, but so far, I haven’t had any luck.

PEACE

I spent my first lesson talking all about English food. The students have always been taught to repeat what the teacher says, so after almost every sentence I say, they repeat it back to me. In a way I feel sad that they have become somewhat robotized in this way! So, when I want them to repeat something I say, I make it clear. This meant that I repeatedly said “FISH AND CHIPS” until they stopped saying “feeesh end ship”. They found it hilarious when I shouted it and then whispered it and kept repeating in this way, with them copying me. It was a very easy lesson, because I was just discussing what a typical English breakfast, lunch and dinner are.

The Thai teachers accompany me to every lesson, because I am an assistant, and not a solo teacher. However, I often find myself alone in the classroom with 35 kids all staring up at me, with no proper plan of what to do, because the teacher is meant to plan the lesson, but instead she has disappeared.  This is what happened today, but I had the student teacher with me. So after 40 minutes of me talking about English food (again), I turned to her and said, “what are we doing now, then?” and she said, “I don’t know”. So I had to improvise, because she wasn’t helping me out at all. The Thai teachers don’t always understand that it is hard for both me and the kids, because neither of us can understand each other!

Top left... sleepy teacher!

While walking around the school, observing little bits of lessons, I came across one class who were all just chilling on the floor looking like they were playing sleeping lions or something. Turns out, their teacher was having a little snooze and they were just following by example! So funny!

Some of us teachers go for lunch off the school premises in a little café place down the road. Sometimes the food is a little scary, as I have already explained before: with fish bones and heads floating around in a curry or chicken bones hiding within other dishes. Thankfully, today I could happily eat a noodle dish, with vegetables and a tiny bit of pork in it without being too scared of chomping down on a bone!!

When we got home from school, even though I was boiling hot and already had a headache from school, I decided I should attempt to get some vitamin D! So I pulled up a pew and sat in the sweltering heat for about an hour, whilst listening to some banging' tunes, (mostly Bob Marley!)

Patio sunbathing

These little birds live in the bush down the side of the house. Their nest is so perfect; it's pretty cool that they made that! The birds kinda look like they are dying sometimes, but I guess panting with their mouths wide open is the way they cope with the heat! Similarly to me..

Two little birds

We had a nice little feast again for dinner! Kanang made her amazing Penang curry (similar to Thai red curry), sweet and sour, and soup; all washed down with a nice Beer Chang! We ate Durian fruit again for pudding (see picture, bottom left). It is really growing on me! It tastes so strange and unexplainable! Kanang and I had our usual conversation about CREAM! (see day 6) Hahahaha.

Durian, Sweet and Sour, Penang Curry, Soup, Beer, Rice.

Maybe tomorrow we will re-try the whole eating less thing, because again, I went to bed completely stuffed!

P.s, Rowena is making cookies to bring into school tomorrow...... ;)

Olivia