Part I: Work
I do not want to bore all of you with details of my work, although I will write a little summary of what we did today at the AH. In the morning we had Russian lessons (I do not think the teacher was too disappointed that I had not done my homework, since I was able to explain to her in Russian all about Nina M’s mysterious late night walks), and then we moved on to learning about teaching the A1/A2 levels (elementary knowledge). For lunch some of my coworkers and I ate at Traktir, the restaurant directly next door to the AH. Traktir has two sections, an indoor restaurant that is open year round, and an outdoor section that is open as long as the good weather lasts. The outdoor section is cheaper, so that is where we ate. Unfortunately, Traktir is very expensive by Russian standards. My meal cost about $5.60 (which was more money than I spent from my arrival through yesterday combined). By American standards, it is quite inexpensive, although as I am now living on a Russian salary, lunches at Traktir will have to be limited. I think tomorrow I will stock up on some bread and cheese to keep in the AH refrigerator for my lunches.
After lunch we delved into some of the AH textbooks. I am very pleased to see that these are real textbooks, from which students can actually learn to speak/read English. We spent some time discussing the good and bad aspects of the different books, and we also spent some time looking over supplemental materials.
Part II: Meeting the Students
After work we had sort of a meet and greet with about eight or nine of our students (approximately as many students as teachers). I do not know how they selected the group with which we met, although they all were very interested in studying English, and they all had excellent language skills. It is reassuring to know that students actually come here to learn. Anyhow, we had a short conversation about politics. At least among the students present, Bush is not popular in the least. I was also relieved to learn that my fellow teachers are also fairly liberal, and no one likes Bush. (The AH teachers are like a window on America for the AH students, so apparently last year all of the students were really confused as to how Bush got reelected when none of the AH teachers liked him! Not that those of us who voted for Kerry weren’t equally confused, but that is more of a topic for elsewhere!) Interestingly enough, Putin seemed very popular among the students, and the consensus seemed that he will probably amend the constitution so as to be able to run for a third consecutive term. Anyway, several of the students told us why they like to study at the AH: the atmosphere. Apparently the interesting topics and the more laid back and informal atmosphere of our classes is very appealing to them. One girl said that she had enrolled in the AH because she was doing poorly in English at school, but now she loves it so much that she wants to make a career out of it! That is awesome. It is so wonderful to know that I am now a part of an organization that actually accomplishes things.
I do not want to bore all of you with details of my work, although I will write a little summary of what we did today at the AH. In the morning we had Russian lessons (I do not think the teacher was too disappointed that I had not done my homework, since I was able to explain to her in Russian all about Nina M’s mysterious late night walks), and then we moved on to learning about teaching the A1/A2 levels (elementary knowledge). For lunch some of my coworkers and I ate at Traktir, the restaurant directly next door to the AH. Traktir has two sections, an indoor restaurant that is open year round, and an outdoor section that is open as long as the good weather lasts. The outdoor section is cheaper, so that is where we ate. Unfortunately, Traktir is very expensive by Russian standards. My meal cost about $5.60 (which was more money than I spent from my arrival through yesterday combined). By American standards, it is quite inexpensive, although as I am now living on a Russian salary, lunches at Traktir will have to be limited. I think tomorrow I will stock up on some bread and cheese to keep in the AH refrigerator for my lunches.
After lunch we delved into some of the AH textbooks. I am very pleased to see that these are real textbooks, from which students can actually learn to speak/read English. We spent some time discussing the good and bad aspects of the different books, and we also spent some time looking over supplemental materials.
Part II: Meeting the Students
After work we had sort of a meet and greet with about eight or nine of our students (approximately as many students as teachers). I do not know how they selected the group with which we met, although they all were very interested in studying English, and they all had excellent language skills. It is reassuring to know that students actually come here to learn. Anyhow, we had a short conversation about politics. At least among the students present, Bush is not popular in the least. I was also relieved to learn that my fellow teachers are also fairly liberal, and no one likes Bush. (The AH teachers are like a window on America for the AH students, so apparently last year all of the students were really confused as to how Bush got reelected when none of the AH teachers liked him! Not that those of us who voted for Kerry weren’t equally confused, but that is more of a topic for elsewhere!) Interestingly enough, Putin seemed very popular among the students, and the consensus seemed that he will probably amend the constitution so as to be able to run for a third consecutive term. Anyway, several of the students told us why they like to study at the AH: the atmosphere. Apparently the interesting topics and the more laid back and informal atmosphere of our classes is very appealing to them. One girl said that she had enrolled in the AH because she was doing poorly in English at school, but now she loves it so much that she wants to make a career out of it! That is awesome. It is so wonderful to know that I am now a part of an organization that actually accomplishes things.
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