chillin'

last night was my first english class with the volunteers. it was awesome. it was supposed to start at 7:30 pm, but in typical fashion, people were wondering in around 8:00. i told them there are three rules: 1) respect yourself, your classmates and me; 2) no french, only english; 3) try your best. at the end of class, once everyone had arrived, i explained that showing up late was NOT respecting me or the other students. i also told them that they shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes in english because they hear me making mistakes in french ALL the time. they laughed. they know it’s true.

i asked them if they wanted to have english names just to use in class to practice pronunciation, and they said yes, so i need to come up with a list before the next class.

we talked about why english is important, what they find most difficult, and what they hope to achieve in class… but then we spent the bulk of the time learning american phrases like, “what’s up? dude. yo. chillin’. cool. for real?” and of course, because it’s my class… “y’all.” they loved it. i explained that these are not phrases they will learn in class, and not phrases to use with their teachers or a boss, but phrases youth use with each other… and since our ministry is geared towards youth, it’s important to understand their language.

i wish you could have heard them, “what’s up, dude?” we were all beaming by the time class ended, and everyone promised they’d be on time next time. we’ll see :)