Happy New Year!
Calgary has been very good to me. When I wrote last I mentioned that I taught a listening and speaking class twice a week. Part way through October, I also took on a second evening class called Culture and Language for Work, which I taught using teleconference. Some of my students were in the classroom in Calgary, and some of them were in Red Deer. It was challenging sometimes, especially when we had technology issues, but the course itself was a blast. Basically, I taught the soft skills for culture in the work place to very fluent students. It was amazing to see them make connections and have real "a-ha" moments. We talked a lot about the importance of clarifying instructions with a supervisor, how to make requests like ask for time off, that kind of thing. Before each lesson I thought, "ah, this is going to be so obvious, I don't think any of this will be surprising to them," but it always was. I never realized how much I take these cultural idiosyncrasies for granted. For example, when you have to ask your boss for time off of work, how do you start? Well, first it's necessary to greet them in some way politely, maybe ask them if they have a minute to talk, use a sentence like "I was wondering if it would be possible if I could..." and give a reason if it's appropriate ("because my family is visiting from India". In that exact order. Mess up the order, it doesn't come off as polite. How could you ever pick up on that if it wasn't taught to you explicitly? Not to mention the appropriate body language, voice intonation and pauses. This is one of the reasons immigrants can experience difficulty moving up the corporate ladder at the work; they can't see the hidden cultural intricacies in making requests or dealing with conflict. ANYWAYS I really enjoyed teaching that course even though it had challenges. Here's a picture of some students doing group work.
I also took on a great little gig teaching English at a business downtown. The managers at this company felt that three of their employees needed some remedial English. When I actually met the employees, I thought they were incredibly fluent and comprehensible. Um...?? So...what I have been finding is that it may not be language, as much as confidence building and more of that cultural stuff. So I go to the company in downtown Calgary once a week for 90 minutes and have a blast exploring language and culture together. Usually I find out what they've been struggling with it, and then we try to address it the next week. Right now we're working on presentation skills. One student described giving presentations in a second language like typing on a keyboard. The only problem is that there is no backspace key! Another one of my students asked me if I was going to write a book about them. =) I told her I would blog about it.
My other evening class was a challenge at times. I really liked the students individually, but as a group they just didn't really gel. My favorite class was the last night. I only had four very diligent students stick around until the very end. I delivered an impromptu lesson on how to make requests using "I was wondering if I could..." and at the end I asked each person to give me an example. The last student said "Janice, I was wondering if you like chocolate?" I was confused, and then he pulled out a chocolate bar from his backpack as a parting gift. You had to be there, but it was hilarious and made the whole term worth it.
When I wasn't working, I was living the daytime dream; going to the gym with retirees, watching Jaimie Oliver at 9:30 a.m. and Ellen DeGeneres at 1:00 p.m., and getting acquainted with my new city. I particularly enjoyed going for runs in my new neighbourhood and running errands in Marda Loop, a great little community just south of my neighbourhood. Dan and I went to Edmonton for a friends wedding in October, and we also made it to Kananaskis for a day hike to Chester Lake during the shoulder season. I also went to the west coast to visit friends and family. I went to Vancouver for two days to visit Neha (who was then 8 months pregnant) and Sumit. Had to get one last visit in before the baby arrives! I took the ferry to Victoria and Dan came the next day to visit with my Lokhorst relatives for a few days. An enjoyable time was had by all. We were lucky to be in town for my Opa's choir concert. It always is enjoyable when I visit my friends and family, thank you for your hospitality!
The one thing I complained (often) about last term was working evenings - four nights a week. I did not suffer through it gracefully. And fortunately, I don't have to anymore, because next term I have my own class during the day, 80% workload. Fantastic! I'm teaching in a program called Youth in Transition, so immigrants aged 19 - 24 who experienced some kind of interrupted education. Teen immigrants who move to Canada with no English still attend high school here, but obviously do not study age appropriate grade materials (except maybe math). When they turn 19 they are too old for high school, and so the point of YiT is to bring up English levels in younger people so they can eventually enter high school upgrading. They have a long road, but I hear they are motivated and they learn quickly. I'm very excited about it, although I've been told it can be like teaching junior high sometimes (some students don't have a lot of classroom experience due to a lifetime spent in refugee camps). Wish me luck. I hope to have some fun stories about teaching to blog about next time.
