The first week of class is complete. I have 2 sections of sophomore oral English on OLD campus, and 4 on NEW campus. The school thinks the level of competence, as measured by some exam, is lesser on the OLD, but so far, I have found it to be about the same. The OLD has a three year program while the NEW is a four year degree. I also have one writing class, for a different department. These people are not English majors, but for some reason need some classes in English. The department is called, “School of International Studies.” Here the level of competence in use of English is quite low, and it will be a challenge both for them and for me. In all, I have about 240 students.
For my first class in all sections, I stated my name and where I am from and said, “I am here because I love people and I love to teach.” Next it was their turn. Each said, “My name is—- I am from —. ” When it came to why we are here, though, there were some interesting answers, among them “I don’t know.”
My Dear Husband has even more students, all on NEW campus. At first, his load seemed the lighter one physically, but more difficult as to subject matter. He has a class called, Introduction to English Speaking Countries. It starts with United Kingdom, and not until book 2 does it arrive at USA. I know that one question on an old “Test of English Mastery” known here as the dreaded “TEM 1-10”
is, “What is the government of New Zealand?” and now I know where to find the answer. It is a good thing that I don’t have to pass those TEMs which are coming out of UK.
Since he had fewer hours, he was given a class from the other department, School of International Studies. To his surprise, it was a double class, 66 students instead of 33. This class, not English majors, meets twice a week, while the English majors meet only once a week. He also has 2 or 3 sections of oral English for English majors. In all, about 300 students.
There is another American teacher here, a young man from Atlanta. He has a similar load. He and Dear Husband are collaborating on the preparations. We will all be using a course I devised in 2009. We call it ORAL ENGLISH: PUBLIC SPEAKING. It includes speeches, dramatic reading, presentation of a skit, and practice teaching. It also includes directed listening and evaluations. They have already started on this, while I will be starting next week. So, we’ve all gotten through week 1.