Guten Tag, wie gehts dir?
What is your name?
Where are you from?
Do you have any hobbies?
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
What did you do in the holidays?
I realised that despite my new job being obviously a big part of my new life in Germany, I haven't really mentioned the work I actually do, apart from the awkward part anyway.
So above is a taster of a lot of the stuff I'm doing at the moment: taking students individually out of class and asking them questions such as those above. This has varying results.
Some kids are über keen, which considering I usually do this activity with the G course kids (those who will leave the school after class 9, so Hauptschule standard) is always a nice surprise. Some play it cool, which I get. I mean, I was a reluctant school kid myself once.
Its the ones who are visibly terrified of me that breaks my heart! I mean, I'm 5 foot tall. The only self defence I know I learnt from Miss Congeniality (SING: Stomach, Instep, Nose, Groin, if you're interested) and I don't even have any piercings to speak of. I am possibly the least terrifying person in the whole school, yet when I see them shaking and they forget all their German, let alone their English, I really have to resist the urge to give them a cwtch.
Funniest thing to happen though: Last Friday I went along with a teacher to a low ability yr 8 class. So kids who are 14 - 15 years old. I did the standard taking them out one by one thing, but each time I came back I grew more and more apprehensive of 3 boys, who were all a) a good foot taller than me b) very rude to the teacher and c) making it very clear they thought I was a bit of a joke.
When the time came to take the first one out I was more than a little nervous, but to my utter shock this guy, and the ones after him, were perfectly polite and very respectful! They even spoke some English, which to be frank I hadn't expected. Not entirely sure why they behaved to this day, presumably they were stupefied by my Englishness.
The best feeling so far though is when you find a student who, when you're sat there explaining what life in Wales is like, or asking them about what music bands they're into, actually gets bright eyed with interest, asks questions and does their best to answer. Even better, a few walk off repeating the stuff I taught them under their breath, and now greet me enthusiastically whenever they see me. I know these students are few and far between, but the feeling you get when you feel like you have actually made a small difference in someone's english ability makes me wonder if I was wrong in assuming teaching wasn't a long term option.
Addition: I wrote the above a few days ago but have something to add.
So today I went to class 8d to do a cover lesson that I'd arranged over a week before and prepared. I walked in a there was a teacher I didn't recognise there. She looked at me and said defensively "ich nehme es für die Dritte und Vierte" (I'm taking it for the 3rd and 4th lesson). I tried and failed to argue then slumped off back to the staff room.
15 minutes later the headmaster comes in and asks why my class has come to him saying Frau Thomas has left them alone for a quarter of an hour. Turns out the teacher was referring to the television, not the actual class. Oops. I blame German and its ambiguity!
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