Teaching Conversational English

In a new addition to my Yemen routine, a week ago I began to teach a class in conversational English at a small English school in Sana'a. I had a class of 9 that rapidly grew to 22 as other students joined, hearing that an American was teaching, and other teachers from my school wimped out and left me with their students. It's an eye-opener for sure.
The class is about half male, half female. But about 90% of the girl students wear the full niqab, so I all know of them is their eyes! A little intimidating. But the second day of class I brought them my marker stash and we made name-tags. The students are all between the ages of 20 and 28, with university education either underway or already completed. Their english is pretty good. So far I've already been caught misspelling a vocab word on the board....embarrassing, to say the least.
The topics have been varied and interesting. The first day we discussed, at their request, Islam in America post 9/11. Baptism by flamethrower. I was asked that day what the secret was behind the US's relationship with Israel. Since then the subjects have calmed down. A day talking about women in the workforce and an assignment to write on the women who made breakthroughs into their fields - the first woman doctor, the first woman president, the first woman scientist. Instead I received essays on the first wife of the prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) and the first female martyr for Islam and the prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him).
We also spent a couple days (at my request of course) talking about children's stories. For homework the students summarized, in english, their favorite childhood stories. The next day we listened to Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, Alla Al-diin (Aladdin), "7 With One Blow!", "Don't Be Curious", a version of "The Little Princess" which they told me was a cartoon on TV. We also discussed the cultural influence on stories, the differences between written and oral tradition, fables and folktales, and whether grown-ups (such as ourselves) could still benefit from children's stories. The responses were great! and what they lacked in grammar and vocabulary they made up for in thoughtfulness.
The last class, my first day with the full 22, we discussed the government and the media in Yemen. One of the boys looked at me when I announced the topic and gasped: "But teacher, we will walk straight out of this classroom and straight into jail!" I think the color must have started to drain from my face as I realized maybe freedom of speech hadn't quite reached Yemen yet, but he laughed at me and said it was just a joke.
For today, they had to research other governments. I have 45 minutes to come up with a topic that has something to do with that...
But in the meantime, I would like to leave you with a fable summarized in English for you by Amani Abdullah. Not only is it there a lesson to be learned, but it's the only one I still have, as I returned the others last week. Enjoy.
"Don't Be Curious"
Once there was a little boy. His name is Ali. He was a little bit clever and good boy in his school. He liked cake more than anything else. He had a fault. He is a curious. He likes checking other's things without taking their permission. So his mother was so angry with him. Although she always told him to take off this bad behavior, he didn't care for her advice.
One day, Ali's mother thought of a plan, then she started it. She wrote a message and put it inside an envelope. She asked him not to open it at all and taking it to his grandmother. While he was walking, he thought of that message. He asked himself, "What did my mother write?" Because of his curiosity, he insisted to open that envelope.
Oh ... When he opened the envelope, the butterfly flied away. He tried to catch it , but he couldn't. He still had the desire of reading that message. He read that his mother requests her mother to give him a big piece of cake and canady if she found the butterfly inside the envelope. After he had read the message, he was very sad and grief. He though better of his bad behavior. He knew his mistake. therefore, he came back to his mother asking her to forgive him. He also promised her that he will never be a curious boy." Amani Abdullah


It's a great experience, and truly a window into the thoughts and minds of normal Yemeni men and women my age. And it's forcing me to practice my spelling.

Much love,
Katie