My nails are painted bright red and match the color of the hearts on my otherwise navy blue tights. I'm wearing my mustard yellow floral lace skirt from London along with a tight black sweater and the colorful (but muted) paisley Sfera scarf I got from my Secret Santa a few months ago at school. I have my black leather and suede riding boots on and I decided to go for looks rather than warmth for the day and threw on my beige but bright orange lined Athropologie trench coat. I woke up early enough to shower and blow dry my hair so I could leave it down all day, and even have a little eyeliner and mascara on. When I get home, I'll take it all off and change into my PJs and new Havaianas, which match the color of my freshly painted blue toes, but for now I am wearing my most favorite winter outfit, and I think it shows. I caught a glimpse of myself in the train window and I dare say I might even have been able to fool a few fellow passengers into suspecting I was a successful, professional young woman was it not for my big Cupcake Madrid bag I've been carrying on my arm all night! ;)
Yesterday morning at school was just awesome; the first thing that happened when I walked in my first class (11th grade - my favorite class in the whole s school by far!) was my Favorite Student raising his hand and asking me what "nookie" meant. I closed my eyes for a moment and then looked at him and asked, "Are you serious?" Nervously, he looked side to side, "Um... yeah?" I began to smile and told him I'd answer his question in a moment. As their teacher took over and told them to begin studying silently, I pulled up Urban Dictionary and slyly direction his attention to the screen. I watched with great amusement as he began reading the definition (full of other colloquial phrases he was unfamiliar with) and waited until he got to the last line of the definition that was pretty darned direct.
"Oh!" he exclaimed all of a sudden. "Oh, no!" He looked him at me, eyes wide, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. He was clearly relieved at my response and quickly showed the definition to his two friends next to him who'd also been wondering. As they started laughing, Favorite Student said to me, "Well, I gotta say, the song makes a lot more sense now!"
Bahaha... I bet it does, my friend. ;)
I then set to grading some of their essays for their teacher. Favorite Student spelled "different" with one 'f' again and I told him I would hurt him. He meekly searched his pencil case and, much to my surprise, pulled out the sticky note I'd stuck on his forehead the other week and promised for the second time. Ha.
A few essays later and I came across this line: "...a friend is [somebody who] spends their time in you..." Bahahaha!! I burst out laughing and stopped the whole class from their studies to inform them that spending time WITH SOMEONE and spending time IN SOMEONE were quite different things. Oh, English prepositions... You tricky bastards! ;) The smart half of the class had a good laugh, while the other half stared at me blankly. Haha!
But all those jems were from yesterday's first period. TODAY nothing particularly spectacular happened at school (Tuesdays are Sara's classes for two hours - and if there are any classes I dread, they are hers), but I was quite chipper all day long. By the time it was Nachomantime, I was a perfect combination of chill and happy. On Tuesdays I always have his class right before school lets out, so I sort of have him for two and a half hours on. Tuesdays, between is school class and our playtime at home together. I adore going into his classroom and hearing how much better he is at English than all of his classmates! *teacher pride* It is also particularly adorable because he clearly shows off when I'm in the class and will misbehave a little bit or be a little more bratty, because he understands me far better than the others and knows how playful I am in real life, whereas the rest just see me as a normal teacher.
Anyway, it's so strange to think about our first few weeks together at his house, when he would sit there silently and draw or play a board game with me or do magic tricks for me - but always silently - and once even in tears because he just wanted to be with his mom! Now, according to his mom, it's the highlight of his week. :) Every time we get home now he takes off his shoes and proudly shows me the two different socks he chose that morning, and then asks to see mine. See, I always wear two different socks (thanks, J), and once he started noticing a few weeks ago, he decided he had to be as cool as me and do it, too!! :) Then, the rest of the time we just hang out and play. And it is 90% in English, too. It's sort of ridiculous for me to see how fast he picks everything up. One day I sang Eenie Meenie Miney Moe to myself while we played Hide and Seek and the next week he was singing it around the house! Sometimes he'll blurt out stuff that only I say, so I know he heard it from me ("Oh brother!" and "Muffins!" are the funniest). Also, when he's talking in English, he'll just insert Spanish when he doesn't know a word and keep going. I'll fill in the word for him casually and keep listening, and then once he's done, he'll start repeating the word I filled in for him under his breath as if trying it out and storing it in his mind's word bank for next time. It's way crazy.
Last night for my class I had to watch a short video on a Chinese bilingual preschool in America. The teachers went over how much the kids love the school and love learning Chinese. They said they never forced the kids to use the language, but rather encouraged it through games and song. I couldn't understand how it seemed to work so well for them. And then today I came to hang out with Nacho and realized that that was exactly what I was doing with him!!
My dad is coming to see me in March and he has been invited to visit my school. He was very excited but said to me, "But how will the children understand me, and how will I understand them? They don't speak English - they speak Spanish! They're so young!" I smiled when he said this, because he is going to be blown away. Sometimes I fret that I am not teaching enough and I am shitty teacher, but these kids' understanding and output is incredible. Sometimes I honestly forget they speak another language natively. Honestly. Even (especially) the littlest ones. I was telling Nacho's mom about it and she said I should definitely introduce my dad and Nacho. Nacho overheard us talking and wanted to know what we were saying about him. When his mom told him I had said that he was very good at English and I had told my dad about him and that he wanted to meet Nacho, the little guy hid behind my legs in momentary embarrassment, and then said, "Well, alright then. Let's invite him over for a coffee."
Bahahaha!!!
The most awesome thing about hanging out with Nacho is how he's about the same age Sam was when I started hanging out with him and doing French Fry Math and teaching him to read fast and giving him casual Chinese lessons when he felt like it. I never taught him for the sake of teaching, but rather he got a kick out of the games we played together, and if he happened to be honing a skill, he had no clue. I felt rather brilliant in my own way, and take great pride in how ridiculously smart he continues to be. ;) But I think the thing that was so cool about Sam and me was that I treated him with respect and just like he was on my level. I never talked down to him or thought he was any less intelligent than I was. I loved the stuff he'd come up with and he always kept me learning, too. It was a totally equal partnership, in my mind.
And so it is with Nacho. I talk to him like I would a real awesome friend. I never consciously dumb down my vocabulary or slow down my speech unless I see he didn't understand something. I never purposefully try to teach him anything specific, which previously made me feel like a bad teacher and wasting his time, but I quickly came to realize this is what makes us both so successful. He has no idea he is making mistakes when he happens to in English. He is just communicating. If I repeat something he said that was incorrect correctly, he will just continue on. Then, a few moments later, I'll hear him repeating the correction of new word to himself, and the cool part is is that it never sounds like he's consciously doing it, but rather an automated process takes over that repeats the word quietly as it uploads it to is mental English dictionary! :)
The most adorable part of my hour with him was when he turned the TV on to the cartoon channel. Now, he does this almost every class and I never mind, but there is the initial (and now practically scripted) few seconds where he turns the volume up and I tell him it has to be at 5, to which he turn it to 35 and I stare at him until he turns it to 10, and then I quickly distract him and turn it to 0. Ha. So tonight, after that whole song and dance, I started giving the cartoon characters voice overs in English! I was mostly just amusing myself - it had been a game they did on "Whose Line is it Anyway," and I'd always wanted to try it out. A bit to my surprise (but not completely), Nacho got really into it and couldn't stop giggling. It lasted a minute or two until we were off to our next game, but ten minutes later he saw the TV and asked if I could do it again. I said sure, and went to start, and then asked if he wanted to play.
It was a big moment. It was why I had really began the voiceovers - first, to see if he could follow along (the characters appear and disappear on the screen so quickly that I had to speak rather fast), and if he could, if he could do it, too. I knew it was a stretch - making up creative dialogue on the spot! - but I was so curious as to whether he could do it. I'm not even sure an average 6 year old could do something like that in their native language, much less their second.
He enthusiastically responded immediately, "Yeah! I am the boys. You are the girls." Every time a boy cartoon character came on the screen he began talking, and every time a girl did, I began to talk. We had a discussion about the boy's motorcycle and how the girl should go for a ride, but all of a sudden the bad guys came and tried to take us. Nacho was having a grand old time and was completely on his toes and making the dialogue really interesting and wouldn't pause for a beat until his characters were off the screen.
I was utterly blown away.
I've studied all the Noam Chomsky research about how 6 year olds and under have a crazy ability to just pick up language - but, man! The coolest part is not letting him know how incredible it is. I get the giggles when he says something way intelligent, but he thinks I've just lost my sanity and has no idea it's just because he's so awesome and I'm shocked and giggling about it. For him, talking and playing in English with me is just what is normal. It doesn't seem to be difficult or a bother to switch to English. He just does. But jeeze Louise - reflecting on how mute he was the first few weeks as compared to how he is today - sheesh!
The last game we played was he informed me that he would be Chelsea Perez Moscato Montoya (he said that's my name in Spanish, because people have longer names in Spain and my name doesn't sound Spanish at all), and I would be Nacho Cheese and Chips (I told him that was his name in English when he begged me to tell him after giving me a Spanish name -Bahaha). He proceeded to put one of my boots on and tell me that he had to go now. I lunged at his giant booted foot and clung to it like a crazy baboon. "Nooooo!! You can't go!! Estay here!!" He was giggling, as he said, "No, Chelsea Montoya. I have no go NOW." I didn't let go of his leg, "But WHY do you have to go!?" I squealed. He was really laughing now, "Uh... I don't know. But I do! Now, give me my boot or I will never come back to play!"
This exchange went on for about as long as it does in real life every day I leave - hahaha - but it was incredibly adorable! ^_^ Nacho is just like the coolest Spanish kid EVER. I used to only want to have a girl when I grow up, it after hanging out with Sam and Nacho, I think I'm starting to change my mind! If I could have a boy as smart and adorable as those two... Man!
After Mr. Nacho it was time to go into the city for my first Tuesday class with Patty. I hadn't heard from her since our very first class last Wednesday and since I'd sent her the giant email of homework - but she'd texted me to confirm class was on for the night, so I went there happy as a clam and eager to hear if she'd done any of the homework I'd so crazily assigned by the boatload!
I got there only five minutes late this time (yay!) thanks to having found a new, shorter route to her house. When I arrived, I felt a lot more in control because of it. She greeted me just as warmly as last time and we went right up to her room. When I walked in, I started to look around and saw little papers taped to everything. She gave me a huge smile and told me how she'd decided to look up, type, print and tape vocabulary words for all of the things in her room! How adorable is this girl!?! She proudly showed me each one (she has about 20 up at this point, but informed me she'll make many more before moving on to the next room of the house), and asked if it was the correct word. So. Cute!
When we sat down at the desk a few minutes later, she pulled up my homework email on her laptop and I asked if she'd been able to do any of it. I had asked in the email for her to think about creating an English portfolio of sorts - either in a binder or a notebook or on her computer, etc. With a big grin on her face, she pulled out the new notebook she had purchased especially to be her English Portfolio. She told me she had gone on a very specific mission to find the cutest notebook she could that would serve well for the portfolio and she was so excited when she finally found this one. And I had to agree - it was perfect!!! It was a notebook by my favorite notebook designer and had a girl on the cover in New York City and next to her it said, "I'm a New York Girl!"
Bahhh!!! Amazing!!!
To be honest, a few days before moving to Spain, I went to Target and bought the most expensive notebook they had, which I'd been wanting for weeks. It is a design by the same lady, only the girl on the front has a small fluffy dog and is standing outside of a Metro stop! I thought it looked so European Chic I had to buy it! :)
Clearly, this girl and I are a perfect pair!!!
What's more is, she had done four pages of exercises in it and arranged them by color. "I'm thinking the pink pages should be vocabulary, and the green pages should be exercises. What do you think?"
I. Love. This. Girl.
My biggest difficulty with teaching is when students are nothing like me. I just don't know how to relate, much less teach. I always think, "Man, if I could just have a student who is like me. I could be the most crazy awesome teacher they'd ever had!" And alas, the stars have aligned and it's happened!! I think I'm actually as excited to teach this girl as she is to learn! So awesome! :)
The rest of the lesson went wonderfully and we talked and giggled a lot. It's kind of cool to teach English to motivated people, because the best thing you can do for them is to just hang out and converse! What an awesome thing to get paid to do! And then, on top of it all, I get to find clever ways to teach them when they say or write or understand something incorrectly. :)
This almost sounds silly, but teaching this girl - at least this first week - has felt a little dream joby. The thing is, I'm going off of NO theory whatsoever (I don't know any!! And apparently this Master's degree isn't just about to teach me any...), but I am going off of a shit ton of personal experience, both with me learning languages, as well as with my teaching of B. If I were to make a preliminary theory, it would go like this:
First - Get the student excited, motivated and comfortable about/with the language. Be very patient when they are speaking, talk a little slower and more enunciated when beginning, but never make them feel like they are doing anything wrong. Make it feel like everything they say is great and when they have trouble understanding, rephrase what you said slower, all the while with that look of, "Silly me, I said that strangely the first time! My bad!" Of course they are making errors and their comprehension isn't perfect, but it's just the idea of making them comfortable from the first moment that is so imperative. I believe the more comfortable you are, the more confident you get, and the more confident you get, the more you are able to learn and retain.
B once showed me a clip where a soccer player was speaking English in an interview. His grammar was awful and his vocabulary was limited, but he just kept on speaking without hardly any pauses. B then turned to me and said, "That is what I consider fluency." I didn't agree with him, and still don't, but I see where he was going with it. You can have a person who speaks the language at a lower level with a 25% rate of error, but they speak comfortably and keep up their pace, and then you can have a person with a higher level and only a 10% rate of error, but very timid and uncomfortable. Every time that first person will be way more easily understood, and better able to express what they need to express.
Second - Make it fun. If they can giggle while they're learning, they might even forget they are learning, which is usually, in my experience, when things actually stick. I took a chance and introduced Patty to the concept of the default vowel "schwa." I over exaggerated its sound in some vocabulary words and she started to laugh. I always explain why I'm doing something seemingly ridiculous, though, so she sees the benefit in it, too. :) I am just not the kind of person that can teach the basics. If something else comes up, I'm going to teach you about it, and we are just going to try our best to tie it all together with a cute little bow. ;) Better to throw too much at someone than not enough - especially if it is entertaining and interesting!
Third - I believe creativity is key to learning. All those irregular verb songs Mrs. Hinchey made us memorize... All those vocab sheets I would color code and do strange word association to... They all are the things that I still remember and continue to help me a decade later! And so when I asked her what she thought of doing a drawing or a song or something in her awesome New York Notebook each week to sum up what grammatical concepts we learned that week, in a creative and artistic manner that would stick in her mind, she said she thought it was awesome! She pointed to her paint brushes and canvasses, and told me she was very artistic and loved doing art. PERFECT!!! ^_^
I am so grateful to have the opportunity to help this awesome girl learn English and I am already looking forward to our Wednesday lesson! I love it when getting paid is just a bonus because I love what I am doing so much. That is exactly how life should be. ^_^
When I finally got home a little after 11pm, I was all excited to tell Abby about my happy day. She had txted me right before I got on the train that she wanted me to come home already, but I took it as a joke since I was out so late on a school night. But, as it turned out, she wasn't kidding. She had had a rather rough day and so it was nice to be able to make her smile when I told her the cute parts of mine, but more so it was nice to be able to be there to listen to her. <3 It took us a week and a half to get over my drama queen moment, but I'm so glad things are back to normal. :) But, jeeze! Poor girl really had a trying night. I left her a chocolate bar on her desk to wake up to and hopefully make her smile, along with two numbers of possible jobs, so hopefully today will be a little less sticky.
Just as I turned the lights out to go to sleep I got a txt asking if I was awake. It was 1:30 am, but I happened to definitely be awake. When I said so, he wrote back telling me he would call me. And then, two seconds later, followed by "May I?"
First, I haven't been asked if it was okay to call me at night since high school. I used to absolutely love when somebody would ask me that! <3 It always seemed so adorable. Second, I haven't talked to somebody on the phone, late at night, for the sake of talking since I lived in Madison. And third, the statement followed by the gentler question was definitely like those Ryan Gosling Notebook memes of him in the lake and made me giggle.
It was utterly unexpected, but timed well, considering my experiment that I officially began today. 24 hours into it and I already feel a huge shift in progress! <3
XOXO
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