These are my little English students (and two big ones, too). For the past year, I've been going into Emma's preschool class on Fridays to teach English to her classmates. I have had so much fun sharing a new language with these little ones. For some of them, they've never heard a foreign word. For others, their parents have been trying to teach them English since they were born, knowing very well it's a universal language. Several of Emma's classmates' parents are employed by John Deere, so they have to communicate with Americans on a daily basis. Many of them even work with Kevin. I don't have an education background, so I'm not really sure if how I introduced words or reviewed them was effective. I'm pretty sure they learned "hello" and "bye-bye", but other than that, well, time will tell. At the very least, we had fun together. When I started, the teacher said to plan to do a 15-minute class with the kids, knowing their attention spans don't last much longer than that. Fifteen to twenty minutes really was sufficient in the beginning. However, the students matured so much over the year and we were doing 45-50 minutes for the last few weeks. My final class lasted over an hour, although we did some crafts that day, too. At the end of lessons, all the kids would hug and kiss me and say, "Thank you," another word they had learned. I feel like it took me a long time to get to the point where I could say, "Yes, I'd love to come teach little Brazilian kids to speak another language!" It wasn't the English part that was hard. Most of my lessons were in Portuguese, with a new English word here and there. Fortunately, Emma's teachers were a huge help with organization and discipline and if I couldn't think of the word I needed in their language, the gals were quick to help.
At the end of it all, one of the greatest lessons the kids learned is that there are people in the world who speak differently than they do. Emma has been their classmate for over a year now and sometimes they forget that she's not like them. About three months ago, another American boy joined their class. He's just now starting to learn Portuguese. Rather than be confused by that, it seems like the kids understand that he's different and that it will take time for him to learn to speak, just like it took Emma time. If they can't remember a single word that I taught them over the last year, I at least hope that they remember there's a really big world outside of where they live now.
I also learned a few lessons. I learned that I really, really love the 3-4-year old age group. I used to teach Sunday school for that age group and I loved it. It's been a few years, so I had forgotten just how sweet and smart those little ones are! I learned that I can be funny and creative on the spot and do it in a foreign language!! Don't ever ask me to do something like that in front of adults, though. Kids are so much easier to entertain! I learned that I really love Emma's classmates. I love their sweet voices and their questions and their hugs and their craziness! I love that I had the opportunity to give back to the people/culture who've given me so much. I loved watching the kids approach Emma with curiosity about a new word. Even after I'd leave the classroom, the teacher said the kids were curious to learn more so they'd go straight to Emma. At first she was shy and didn't want to say an English word out loud. Now she proudly teaches them any new word they want to know. It's been a learning process and a fun experience for me and I think for her, as well.
Friday is the last day of school here before summer break. I'll be sad not to get to see the teachers and kids on a daily basis, but I'm hoping to do another English class in February when school starts again!!
