Teaching English

This is something I want to do, and have wanted to do for quite some time. It seems like it will come true for me in one way, for I will begin teaching English to Somali-Bantu refugees tomorrow. What a history these people have! From slavery to civil war to perilous refugee camps, they were considered second class citizens at best in Africa. They went from one country to another in an effort to escape the every day horrors of rape, robbery and gruesome murders. A place most would consider safe, at the refugee camp to which they fled the women often experienced rape. Needless to say, living in the US has been a blessing to them, albeit a huge challenge. The Somali-Bantu people use only spoken language, meaning their native Maay-Maay is not written and never has been. Learning English, then, is not only a challenge in that it is a second language, but that it requires learning writing, practically a third language to them.

I haven't actually met the women I will be working with yet. That will happen tomorrow. From what I'm told, the ESL classes consist of women because the men work and the kids pick up English at school. Besides, there are other programs for the kids. What an opportunity for me! I have always loved meeting people from other countries, even in my tiny town of 4,000 growing up. In fifth grade, I made a friend from Russia who had just been adopted. My freshman year of high school, an exchange student from China became my best friend. And in college, I had a really close friend from Japan and would talk to my peers from Indonesia, South Korea, and from a few countries in Africa. Often I would ask stupid questions, but on occasion, my questions would make them think and likewise their questions for me would be cause for pause. Especially my Japanese friend was brimming with questions about English and American culture, why things are the way they are. She was so eager to learn anything and everything about the US and English. A few weeks ago, I spoke with her online about a status she had posted on facebook. It said, "grab Mr. Chance's bang." I asked her what it meant. She said she took it from a book title that had been translated into English over in Japan. The title of the book was, Mr. Chance Bangs. I quickly realized what had been translated: our common English phrase, "opportunity knocks." I laughed and told her what she had written about grabbing Mr. Chance's bang could be taken the wrong way. She was horrified and changed it right away. I love when things are confused in translation like that.

I hope to teach English in Japan shortly after graduation. Hopefully the economy will be on the up-and-up because right now there is an abundance of teachers due to school closings in Japan.

The experience teaching English to Somali-Bantu refugees will be wonderful, I have no doubt. I predict that I will learn more from them than they from me.