Happy New Year!
Posted: January 31, 2010 Filed under: Blether, Books, ESOL teaching 3 Comments »Can I still say that? It’s still January, isn’t it? (Just!)
It’s been a while. Been very busy recently with no time to blog …
I’m lolling in bed as I write this. I got up exceptionally early today (8.15 on a Sunday morning is unheard of for me), but I wanted to be up and coffee’ed by the time Murray and Federer’s match started at 8.30.
I was torn re who to support … Murray, the Scottish underdog, or the lovely Roger Federer. In the end, it was a pretty one-sided match. Poor wee Murraykins, eh? Maybe next time.
I’m feeling a bit better after my late afternoon snooze.
I fell asleep earlier reading an amazing book: ”Shame” by Jasvinder Sanghera. It’s the true story of a woman who ran away from home at the age of 15 1/2 to avoid a forced marriage and about everything that she went through.
She’s an absoluetly amazing woman, and she’s since set up an organisation called Karma Nirvana which supports victims of honour-based abuse and forced marriage. Apparently she’s written another book, too, about some of the stories of the women that she has helped through her organisation. I think that’ll have to be next on my reading list.
I’m going to get back to the book now – I need to know what happens in the end! And then, it’s Sunday evening … which means I have to prep for tomorrow. Hate that back to school feeling.
Last day, yummy food and a clear out
Posted: April 1, 2009 Filed under: ESOL teaching, Work Leave a comment »I had a brilliant day at work today. It was my current group of students’ last day of class. We played lots of games: pass the parcel(!), Brainstorm and a home made board game. At lunchtime we had a meal paid for by the college to bid the students farewell. There was lots of gorgeous Bengali food – lamb and chicken curry, rice, lovely breads and fruit – YUM! The students were all so lovely and saying they would miss me, and I almost wanted to cry over the fact they won’t be coming back after Easter!
After lunch we, (me and fellow teachers) spent the afternoon having a clear out, as Ofsted are coming after the holidays (gulp). My classroom now has lots of new posters, and all the crap that had been accumulating for years (literally) has been removed (old handouts, ex-students’ work, a broken OHP, a massive display board etc etc).
It was so lovely to do some real physical work for once. It was also good to work with my colleagues, as I am too often by myself at the clinic when I am SLT-ing or when I am teaching (other than the students, of course!)
I did feel a bit bad about the amount of stuff that the college threw away (including tons of old computer stuff). I would have preferred it all to be recycled/ given away, but short of hiring a van and driving it all to some kind recycling facility myself, there was not much I could do about it.
I did manage to rescue a sack – a whole sack! – of clothes that students have left behind over the years, and I am going to take it to a charity shop or freecycle it. At least that won’t end up in landfill. Shame all the clothes were really unfashionable and extra large, or I could perhaps have solved my current clothing crisis 
Living rooms but no cake
Posted: March 25, 2009 Filed under: ESOL teaching, London life 1 Comment »I had a very easy day at work today. I took my students to the Geffrye Museum in Dalston. If you’ve got a spare few hours, and you happen to be in the vicinity, I would definitely recommend dropping in. It’s a museum about “middle class” living rooms through the ages, and as you walk through, you get to look into mock-ups of living rooms from 1600 to the present day.
I’ve been there three times with students, and have enjoyed every visit. And they have excellent resources for ESOL teachers that you can just print off and use. No preparation required!
One slight disappointment. The restaurant looks lovely and the menu is very tempting, but I still haven’t been able to try it! Each time I’ve been to the museum, my students haven’t wanted to go in. Not sure why – surely a post-visit cup of tea and chocolate brownie is the highlight of a trip to any museum.
Ciao belli!
Posted: January 13, 2009 Filed under: ESOL teaching, Men, Work 4 Comments »The new term has started.
We have a new batch of students.
The sudden influx of gorgeous Italian males is not unwelcome.
Film suggestions needed
Posted: November 29, 2008 Filed under: ESOL teaching 5 Comments »I’ve got to find a film to watch with my students at the end of their course in a few weeks’ time. My class consists of: three Somali women, one Somali man, two Bangladeshi men, five Bangladeshi women, one Afghani woman and one Turkish woman. Their English is not brilliant, so the less dialogue the better.
They are all in their twenties and early thirties (with the exception of one of the men and three of the women, who are all in their forties). No nudity and minimal swearing is essential, as a few of the students are quite religious, and I don’t want to offend (or have to explain the meaning of rude words!). I’ve been racking my brain but can’t think of anything suitable.
Was wondering if anyone has any ideas?
What do you have for breakfast?
Posted: September 16, 2008 Filed under: ESOL teaching 8 Comments »I’m still doing the ol’ speech therapy lark three days a week, and teaching ESOL on the other two. I’m still not entirely happy with SLT (although it’s better than it was), but I’m really enjoying the teaching. (I’m also still trying to find a job that will allow me to ‘use my languages’ and which pays as much as I’m earning at the moment, but that’s another story - it ain’t easy …)
The new term has delivered me a brand new batch of students: so far 1 Turkish woman, 5 Bangladeshis, and three Somalis. The classes are going well, and the students are really lovely and keen to learn.
During every course, there’s always a funny pronunciation moment or two which makes me laugh. The first one was yesterday morning.
We were talking about food and I asked the students what they normally have for breakfast. The answers were mainly as expected: cereal, bread, jam, tea, milk and so on. And then I asked A., a new Somali student who had joined the class the previous morning.
Me: So, what do you have for breakfast then, A.?
A: Toast.
Me: Toast with jam?
A: No.
Me: Butter?
A: No, toast and penis.
Me: Sorry? Toast and what?
A: Penis.
Me: Penis?
A: Yes. I love penis.
Me: Aaah. Right, OK.
We eventually established that she doesn’t in fact have Armin Meiwes tendencies. Nor was she telling me that she engages in ‘sex acts’ at the breakfast table. In fact, her error was all down to the fact that the [b] sound is devoiced in word initial positions in Somali (i.e. it sounds a bit more like a [p] when it occurs at the start of words). So what she actually eats for breakfast is beans on toast!
I’m wondering whether a few pronunciation lessons may be in order. 
