my first eikaiwa

So Tuesday night, i had my first english conversation class (from here on out, i’m just gonna call it eikaiwa 英会話). There’s 15 people enrolled in the free course offered through the local community center, but only 13 showed up to the first class. I actually managed to plan just enough stuff to do that we finished just on time.

Despite being on an island where Korean seems to be the foreign language of choice, the people who signed up for my class have a shockingly high level of ability. Considering the only two types of people i hear english from are either elementary/junior high school kids, or my english teachers, it’s amazing to hear other people out in the community actually string together a coherent, grammatically accurate sentence @,@ i was highly, highly impressed.

For the last week, i’ve been dreading going to eikaiwa, mainly because of my inherent fear of people realizing that my english has major gaps. Stuff like nursery rhymes, idioms, vocab, expressions... i still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to english, and yet i’m supposed to be able to teach a motley crue of people with drastically different levels of ability.

All day yesterday, i was just nervous. Even after getting into the classroom and seeing that they weren’t scary looking, i was still uber nervous the entire lesson. And when i get nervous, i start to talk fast, which is obviously bad if there’re people who can’t listen very well.

Even though i’ve technically been teaching English since September, my eikaiwa class was the first time i’ve actually felt like a teacher. And dude, is it scary. I mean, you’re RESPONSIBLE for EVERYTHING... usually, my school classes aren’t that daunting because there’s always the homeroom teacher or the english teacher there. But this time, i have to plan everything, make copies.... and all eyes are on me.... =(

My lesson actually worked out pretty well (i think at least), and afterwards, i was chatting with aaron. I told him about the whole feeling like a teacher for the first time thing, and he said, “i understand what you mean, and it’s because with the elementary school and junior high students, everything you say is at least a little bit helpful, so their expectations are very low. But when it comes to the adults, since everyone’s level is all over the place, their expectations are just unreasonable.”

At first i just laughed, but after some thought, i realized that he’s right. In future lessons, i’m sure i’m going to have lessons at just the right level for someone, but it’ll be too easy or too hard for someone else. Literally, i think it’s impossible to please everyone. But for now, i’m just going to revel in a successful first lesson.

As i’m sure everyone could use a good laugh, i’m going to end with a few quotes from the surveys my students filled out at the end of the lesson. Enjoy!

How long have you studied English?
I don’t have time.

How long have you studied English?
I’ve studied for tree years.

What are your hobbies?
Growing flowers, making pottery, baking cakes, playing bound tennis

The most puzzling one:

How long have you studied English?
Tweyear – Sometime!

And last, but not least, my favorite:

What are your hobbies?
Chat (finger lanquage)