By ecirrincione
As I mentioned in my last post, I am volunteering teaching English at the Mubarrat Um El Hossain in Amman, Jordan. I just got back from class-whew! I am tired. It's a far trip from my house, but it is such a rewarding experience.
I teach ten girls, who range from high school age to mid-20s. They all have different reasons for wanting to learn English. Some of the reasons they have told me have been to further their educational career or because they love to learn new languages. The class is a conversational English class, so it is important to always engage the students in conversation. Students in Jordan are mandated to take English class in school, but this usually means that they learn grammar. It can be hard to practice speaking conversational English, so these girls have a good opportunity to practice speaking with a native - me!
The Mubarrat has been so helpful with me and given me complete creative control in developing a syllabus and lesson plan for the class. The class will be broken up into two week themes focusing on speaking, listening, reading and writing. Each class we will have a main topic. Next week, since it is Eid Al Adha coming, we will be speaking on Eid in Jordan and Eid in America.
The first week of classes we played games to get everyone acclimated to the class. As a student of Arabic, I know how intimidating it can be to speak in front of a native. Therefore I wanted to get the students comfortable with me. I hope that they are enjoying the class so far!
One thing that makes me proud is to see the students grasp and understand a new concept in class. When I see that they comprehend the idea and can use it comfortably, it makes me feel so happy that I can help them. On Wednesday we have a quiz, inshallah it goes well!!