You've heard of the "bastardiaztion of English?" Well, it is MY fault. I am volunteering as an EFL teacher (English as a Foreign Language) to adults in the Embassy community. At first I was supposed to have about 6 students (chauffeurs and mechanics). On my first day I had over 20 students in three different levels. Usually with EFL classes attendance drops over time. After a couple of weeks, I now have 27 students. I am teaching on my own, but in September I should have two other volunteers helping me out. I have three levels and they each have classes twice a week for an hour. Let me tell you a little about my classes.

Conversational English: One student asked me what I thought of this class. I told him that I don't have any problem understanding what they are saying but we'll work on pronunciation, prepositions, and confidence. We talk about everything from how to bargain to why Americans buy so much and why people here don't use seat belts (there aren't any highways??!). Next week we're going to talk about pirates.

Beginners: I was supposed to have 4 students and on my first day 11 showed up. I was so shocked and when I said, "Eleven students!" or actually "Once estudiantes!" 6 of them got up to leave! I assured them that I would teach everyone (even though I wasn't prepared that day). They don't speak a lick of English so in my best (bad) Spanish I asked, "Como se dice 'Hola' en Ingles?" The response? Hola. So we're starting at the beginning. They are so thirsty to learn and I have to work super hard to keep up with them. By the end of class we had made some headway, though. They all learned how to say "See you later!"

Intermediates: I have about 10 of these students who work in offices, drive cars, and fix cars. They speak enough English so that we can joke around, but there are often misunderstandings and confusion. For example, I told them that we won't have class on Sept. 1 because it is a holiday, but we will have class on Sept. 3 despite the fact that it is a holiday for me... my birthday. They said we shouldn't have class on my birthday, and I said that it would be a present for me to have class (because I like teaching so much...). Then there was this rapid exchange in Spanish that I didn't really understand, but I got the gist of it. I explained in English and Spanish that they didn't have to get me any gifts... class was my gift. Can you imagine what they were thinking? Sheesh, she's barely taught us anything and she wants gifts?

My favorite confusing moment occurred when I got very excited about a dry-erase board. I don't have a lot of supplies for my classes, so I lugged in my own dry erase board. When I got to my second class, one of the students showed me that there was a board in the room behind the flip-chart we were whipping through. I was so excited that I exclaimed, "Awesome Possum." There was dead silence in the room and for a moment I thought I used a phrase that sounded insulting in Spanish (like saying "Peach" in Turkey). Then the most advanced student, with pencil in hand, said, "I am sorry. Could you write this. Awesome..." They were so excited. I explained that I didn't think many Americans used this phrase, but I use it when something is really great. They didn't know what an opossum was so we called MH and had him look it up in his Spanish/English dictionary. Later in class when one team won our question game a student shouted out "Awesome Possum."

I am wiped out at the end of each day, but for hours after class I am kind of high. It is so much fun to see them excited about learning and it is kind of cool that I am meeting more people than MH. But I apologize to you, native English speakers, for teaching not only my children but a whole group of unwitting people to speak like me.