Monkeying Around

So to week 3 of teaching…

I fear this week’s entry will send you all into a slumber as there are no dramas, dog bites, riptides, crazy classes, snakes slithering in the classrooms or misdemeanors of any sort. However, my one saving grace for an interesting read, is a very obstinate young woman. No you guessed wrong, I’m not referring to my wife, although you can be easily forgiven for your accurate assumptions; it is unfortunately one of the girls that was bestowed upon us to tutor.

As a Year 3 teacher, I taught 3 very different classes and you will always get some very stubborn children in your class. But they are children at an age where you can convince, persuade, blackmail or quite frankly demand that they heed your advice and behave in an appropriate manner, otherwise they will face whatever the consequences are. However, it’s a different kettle of fish when faced with a 12 year old girl who knows it all, has supreme confidence and huffs and puffs with such indignation that even I began to convince myself that I must be such a bad person for trying to help someone learn more.

As well as teaching the classes as usual, we were helping the girls in our free periods. Unfortunately, Daw had already been taught the English story by one of the Thai teachers but to put it bluntly, there was no English! It was all gobbledygook. I didn’t even know it was a retelling of the ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’ until I read her writing myself.

So the first thing I did was break the story up into smaller chunks consisting of 3 or 4 sentences, working on a sentence at a time. In each sentence we really focused on perfecting the pronunciation of the words, making sure she paused at the end of a sentence and expressed certain words enthusiastically.  I admit it would have been difficult for Daw but just by asking her to say a word 3 times over, you would have thought I was asking her to jump of a cliff and see to it that her demise is complete, or better still, seek refuge in a pig sty and lay down for an uncomfortable and rather pungent night’s sleep. Being sensitive to her attitude, I thought, well maybe she’d respond better to a female teacher. Ha! After swapping pupils, Susie reported that after asking Daw to pause at a full stop, she decided she’d had enough. She moved to another table and started colouring in. We also asked Daw to practice at home but this advice was met with a really confused look. This happened for 2 days.

Susie's girl on the other hand was very responsive and very kind mannered. Nittaya worked very hard and her English improved dramatically. 

It was competition time so off we went in the school bus. I didn't realise there were a number of competitions taking place as well as the English one.

Waiting on the bus

Some nervous faces

All present and correct

The schedule

The Judges

Introductions and welome

So we arrive at the school where the competition was taking place and as the story telling wasn’t starting for a while, we were told there was a temple within this huge cave right next door. So we set off to visit yet another temple in Thailand and low and behold, there were over a hundred monkeys running around right by the cave. We happened to have some bananas that we’d bought that morning so we thought it would be rude not give them a bite.

I can honestly say I didn’t know what was going to happen on the morning of the competition. Was Daw a secret genius who knew better than to take advice from native English speakers? Did she know the story off by heart after all and didn’t need to practice at home? Simple answer…No

This part is actually a bit sad. Daw was drawn to perform third in her section so it gave her a chance to weigh up the competition. Candidate number one stood up and I was gob-smacked at the clarity and confidence in her voice, the perfect pronunciation of every word and the expression she showed. Candidate number 2 stepped up and gave another seamless performance. Daw stepped up…and…and…completely forgot the whole thing and froze on the spot. The poor girl stood there for what seemed like hours but was actually about a minute in absolute silence looking straight at me with a horribly desperate look in her eyes. Luckily I had the story in my pocket so pulled it out and thought I’d prompt her with a few words. I did this…no response…I did it with a different sentence…still no response…I did it again and the judges gave me an unnerving stare. “You are not allowed to help the candidate” came the words. Still staring at me, with even more desperate eyes, I looked at her with an expression on my face that said ‘there’s nothing I can do’. This minute was lasting a lifetime. Finally she was put out of her misery and was asked to sit down. Daw then ran out of the room crying...

The judges seeing that we were English then asked our opinion. It was a no brainer! Number 1 was outstanding. But no, they gave the winner to Candidate number 4, a boy who struggled to pronounce any words properly but was very loud and confident…and was tutored by the head teacher of the host school. Home advantage came into play me thinks. I couldn’t contain my discontent. This result was completely wrong and the judges had completely ignored our recommendation. I made a beeline for Candidate number 1 and explained to her teacher that she was the best and to ignore the judges.

The dubiously selected winner

This was taken before Daw started.
I didn't take it in the middle of her freezing on the spot I can assure you

The other sections of the competition included a scrabble competition. We’re all familiar with the game so it needs no explanation. The official adjudicators were the Thai teachers and some of the words put on the scrabble board by the children were certainly not English words, yet the Thai teachers awarded the children points. We all explained that the words on these boards are not actual words but our protestations were met with removal. We were then banished back to the cave and the monkeys “I think you will have more fun in the cave” came the hint.

So the competition was a bit of a farcical affair and I was glad to be leaving. By this time, the situation had calmed down with regards to Daw. I reflected with the English teacher on the way home that her attitude was very poor and this is unfortunately why she froze in her story telling. The English teacher agreed by saying that while she gets on with Daw really well, no other teacher really likes her as she gives everyone a hard time. I found this really sad to hear. She’d given us a hard time but I wouldn’t have just written her off like the teachers in the school had. There were obviously issues there but it’s our job as teachers to gain their trust and respect and build a positive relationship with the children.

Some tired children on the journey home

Some last week teaching shots:

Couldn't resist a keepy uppy competition with the boys

Unfortunately, the English competition was another nail in the coffin that confirmed my beliefs about the education system in Thailand. It's very autocratic and old fashioned. When wandering around the classes in our free periods, the children were herded around with the cane; the teachers would give the children a huge textbook and expect them to complete it. There was no input required from the teachers and the teachers were then free to chat to their friends on their mobile phones in the classroom. There was no fun or interactive approach to teaching, no outdoor learning and no learning in the context of the outside world. Thailand is a fast developing nation and the education system is getting left behind.

We ended the week saying our goodbyes to all the children, exchanging gifts with the English teacher and then being invited round to the English teacher’s house for a lovely evening meal. The English teacher couldn’t say bye to us at the end, as the tears were too strong which was really sweet. She was a truly caring teacher and kind woman but is unfortunately part of an old system that needs radical change.

Fresh fish caught that day

Yummy!

Fresh Prawns

Playing in the neighbourhood

To read about our foodie experiences around Southeast Asia, go to http://aflavouroftheworld.blogspot.com/

Plans over the coming months: After visiting some Thai islands, we’re off to Malaysia, Singapore and then AUSTRALIA!!! and New Zealand. Once we’ve finished travelling which I predict to be around December, we’re going to take stock and decide what the next chapter of our lives is going to be. This could mean me having a go at teaching in Australia or a return to our great island.

Make sure you look out for me in fancy dress on the Boxing Day Ashes Test Match.  

Beaches, Baywatch and Bedlam

It seems that I’m inexorably drawn towards danger. I’ve come to this conclusion because week 2 began with a bit of a scare. But before a little drama ensued, the weekend up until Sunday evening was delightful. As it was our first year wedding anniversary on the weekend prior to Week 2 of teaching, we decided to head to Khao Sok National Park, a 160 million year old jungle with huge limestone mountains shooting from many breathtaking lakes. Kayaking, trekking and taking in these amazing landscapes was a lovely way to celebrate a year of marriage and not many people can say they were still on honeymoon on their first year anniversary.

Honeymoon Suite

So to Sunday evening, we arrived in Kok Loi for the week of teaching ahead. As had become routine, all the volunteers decided to head to the beach. The beach that is so beautiful and void of over-development…the beach that is so glorious in its vastness and simplicity…the beach that peacefully provides the calming noise of the waves and the gentle refreshing breeze…with the sea that can be a cruel mistress!

As myself and Josh were generally being big kids jumping and diving against the big breaking waves, seeing who could swim the furthest towards shore with the wave as our engine and just generally reveling in the sea, little did we know what was to come. It’s all a bit of a blur but within a minute, Charlotte, who had come to join us, began screaming quite frantically.

“Help! I can’t breathe! I’m gonna die!”

My instant reaction was pure laughter. I thought Charlotte was just playing the fool and I genuinely began to laugh my head off at the appreciation of this funny and well-acted joke.

Whilst I found myself laughing uncontrollably at what I thought was an excellent piece of acting, a piece of acting that Hollywood greats would have been proud of, I found myself quite far out to sea, double the distance to 30 seconds previous. Without making too much of a drama out of it, I thought, ‘ok, let’s swim back to shore.’ As I began swimming, I realised I wasn’t making any progress and if anything, I was edging ever so slightly further out to sea. Once again, trusting in my ability as a reasonably strong swimmer, maintaining the essential importance to stay calm, I shot a quizzical glance around me. What was happening?

As Charlotte’s cries became muffled, and Josh, her knight in shining armour, was at her side, coaxing her to stay calm and to focus on breathing and staying afloat, I once again shot a glance back at the ever shrinking beach. Remembering all my swimming lessons as a child, I made my mission to swim as fast as an Olympic swimmer and gradually made progress back to shore. I then began to relax as I cruised up alongside Josh and Charlotte. Within a few seconds, while Charlotte was still screaming for dear life, we were back to shallow waters and Josh dryly announced to Charlotte that if you would stop your incessant screaming for one second, you’d realise that we can touch the bottom. From here, once again laughing as I had when this bizarre event began, we began walking back to the beach.

After talking to some locals about what could pass for a Baywatch opening scene (with me as the Hoff of course), we were told that we got caught in a riptide, which apparently run very low on the danger scale. They don’t pull you under water, they just pull you out to sea a little. All you have to do is swim parallel to the shore and you’ll swim out of its death-defining grasp and then you’re able to swim back to shore. As long as you stay afloat you’re pretty safe…apparently!

Anyway, Week 2 of teaching soon reared its happy head and it began with some lovely classes. The topics included transport; hospitals, illnesses and aliments (pretending to puke up was great fun); farm animals and a continuation of weather in Europe (trying to explain what ice and snow is to natives of a country where it’s wet or dry is quite amusing). The ‘wild monkeys’ that I was dreading turned out to be tame little kittens as the English Teacher insisted she sit in on the lesson. I certainly wasn’t going to protest! And boy did they behave!

It was a 3-day week at the school because for Thursday and Friday, we had been assigned to teach at English Camp. In this time however, we got wind of an English competition that two girls had been entered for as representatives of the school. So Susie and I signed up to tutor the two girls as the competition was the following Wednesday. No time to waste!

Susie's artwork coming into action

But the highlight of the week by far was English Camp. English Camp was a two day event where a local high school, who’s pupils have the unfortunate task of completing many examinations in a week’s time, need some intense English tuition to help them on their way. Fully clad in our striking blue English Camp T-shirts, we headed to the best classroom in the world, a glorious beach situated 10 minutes drive from Khao Lak.

A little intimidated at first by the fact that some of these boys towered above me at the tender age of 15, I realised that they were a really nice bunch of kids and I also realised if they wanted to misbehave, they’d soon get the cold, hard stare! It was actually a really enjoyable experience because the children’s level of English was that bit higher than the children we had been teaching in the school and you could do more advanced lessons with them.

Understand?

Spot of lunch from the best classroom in the world

Presentations

Once again, it was an incredibly enjoyable week and it felt sad that we only had one more week of teaching to go. However, we had the English competition to win!

Next Week – English competition with lots of monkeys at the school (yes real monkeys).