Teaching English Classes



Students at Millenium High School in Ti-Rivier, Haiti

Family and Friends,

Day 107 of our Haiti Adventure!

For the past month I have been teaching English classes at the following times:

     Tuesdays 8-10AM-    7th and 8th graders at the local High School
     Fridays 10-11AM-     9th graders at the local High School
     Saturdays 9-11AM-   Beginner's class in Ti-Rivier
                       2-5PM-    Advanced class in Carfajout, a nearby village
     Sundays 1-2, 3-5-      Conversation clubs in Carfajout and Ti-Rivier

English class has been a lot of fun, especially working with the more advanced students. Some of them have really put in the time on their own to build a nice bank of vocabulary and knowledge of grammar. If they get their hands on a dictionary, they spend hours and hours memorizing it. I try to help them put all the pieces they know together in a practical way. We work hard on conversation skills, pronunciation, and understanding of English-speaking culture. We do all kinds of activities such as Bible trivia in English, singing praise songs and hymns, having conversations about politics and economic issues, and even reading stories for children.

The students sometimes don't know what to think of me, because my methods are so different than what they are used to. First of all I never beat them or yell at them or shame them in any way. Also, in Haiti all of the teachers spend hours and hours chanting lists of words and equations and whatever else, and the students chant them back. They use rote memorization for everything because of their lack of resources and because that is just how it has always been done. Usually the teacher is the only one who has the textbook, for example. Sometimes he/she has nothing but chalk and a chalkboard.

So when I start doing things in class like asking the students to draw pictures, or sing songs, or write a creative story, or get into groups to do a project, they are pretty taken aback. One day I told the advanced class, “Let's go for a walk and learn some new vocabulary words as we walk together down the street.” That got a lot of blank stares. One student asked, “Teacher, is the class over?” I said, “No, we are just taking the class outside for awhile.” They still sat there like statues, not sure if this was some kind of test or something. Finally I found a compromise for the situation. I coaxed them just outside the classroom and taught them in English the various parts of the motorcycle parked there. They came back the next week and remembered all 25-30 parts I named. It was impressive.

Yesterday was a Tuesday, so I got to teach the younger students at the High School.  Some of them are in the picture above. In the US we would actually refer to this level as Middle School. We worked on learning the Lord's Prayer in English. They all know it in Creole already, so that helps. We broke down some of the words to learn their meaning and pronunciation. People here really struggle to say “Earth”, for example. It ends up sounding something like “hairf.”

Next I gave them a piece of paper and asked them to draw themselves in one box, and a picture from the life of Christ in the other box. Later they had to try to describe in English the pictures they had drawn. As they finished that project we sang several praise songs in English, which is their favorite thing to do. People aren't shy about singing here. Sometimes they even ask if they can sing it individually for the whole class. Can you imagine teenagers asking to do that in the US?

After class the students had a break at school, and about 16 of them followed me home to visit for a few minutes. We made them some lemonade-type stuff and gave them tootsie rolls. After that I had them sing “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” in English and Creole, and we made a little video of the whole thing. Then we watched it together on computer. They all said “Thank You” and headed back to school. Good kids.

I'm hoping that working with these students will not only help them with their English, but it will lead to more open doors for sharing the gospel with them and their families. I also see it as a recruiting tool for our youth group and one day for the Bible School. It is great to have a chance to be involved in the community on a regular basis and help the young people in a some way to develop a Christ-centered worldview on which to base their lives. It is also beneficial to me to have regular practice teaching Haitians. I try to use as much Creole as I can, and each day I learn a little more. I teach them something. They teach me something. This is what being a missionary is all about!
 
Enjoy Your Adventure Today!
-The Grimms