"I think teaching comes from your soul anyway, you are more of a guide through a pile of boring materials unless you make people see the fun that they can have in a book, or while learning new words that mean the world to them."
~Andrew Robinson
A friend of mine wrote me this quote last month when I was feeling particularly disheartened by moving to China, and trying to be a "good" teacher. I appreciated the quote, (even put it on facebook which makes it real right?) but did not fully understand it until reading this particular article today.
http://www.raptitude.com/2009/12/chop-wood-carry-water/
I'm not sure the article is is anything out of the ordinary, but the words in the article grabbed my attention. I have been reading "chinglish" from my students for almost two months now. After reading this article I was thinking how unfortunate it is that I cannot give this article to them, and have them understand it on the first read. They would not be able to grasp the idea of this article. I would have to deconstruct the hard vocabulary, talk about its meaning, and really pull apart the entire article. It really takes away from the "mood" of reading.
These students experience this every day in their English language classes. They read something I give them, (currently we are reading Tuck Everlasting as our Novel study) and instead of not understanding one or two words that we as foreigners can just look up on google, they have to underline it, find the context clue, and if that doesn't work, then go find a dictionary to understand the word or words. Once they have done that, they must then go back, re-read the paragraph and then summarize what the article is saying, in order to fully grasp what the author is trying to say.
Worst of all is imagery. (which by the way, is most of the book Tuck Everlasting, what the heck was I thinking?!) This is such a hard concept when it is all context. How do you explain the sights and smells of fresh mountain air, when that has never been experienced. How does the reader understand words that are meant for North American readers? These are all things I am learning about English Language Learners. First and foremost, find a Novel that they can relate to, with cultural references that are easier to understand.
Words that are written on a page, whether it be in English, Chinese, or Japanese are meaningful. They evoke powerful emotions, visualizations and meanings that are different to every reader. When what you are reading is not in your first language, it takes away that suspense, the excitement, and easiness of reading a novel for pleasure.
Every day I work with my students to help them understand a novel that is at a sixth grade reading level, when they are 16 years old. If this novel was in Chinese they would be laughing at me for even suggesting they read such a Juvenile novel.
This is where I am reminded of Andrew's quote, it reminds me that although what I am teaching may be at the Elementary level, the meaning they make of this novel, the "real world" connections they can make, relating this novel to current day issues, media and technology, these are the ideas that can be Everlasting.
My students have so many ideas and thoughts that they cannot express in English and I want to hear those thoughts, through journaling, community circles, and working every day on communication, I hope that these young adults will be able to enjoy a novel, in English or Chinese where they can critically think about it, understand it, fall in love with a story and "learn new words that mean the world to them."
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