First Dutch lesson - part 2
For part 1, click here.
During the break time, I simply stood in the area with the vending machines and people-watched. I played "name that language" (in my head) and listened to a girl speaking basic Spanish - I assume it was the only common language with the other girl - along with some possible Polish and Portuguese speakers.
8:30 rolled around and it was time to head to my classroom, as labeled on the paper they had mailed me. Nope. Wrong classroom, or rather, the classroom had changed without them notifying me. The woman from administration was there, and said I could stay, but it would be too hard/easy for me. :) They pointed me to another woman and said to go with her.
I entered my classroom and found a seat next to some younger ladies. Since I did not have a book, the teacher suggested I share with the girl sitting next to me. (Shouldn't I have gotten a book on my first day??)
One other woman and myself were introduced to the class of about
twenty, as it was our first day, but I had to learn the other names
through the teacher calling on them. My seatmate was from Romania and
lives in the next town over. There was a woman named Oksana who might
be from Central Asia, as she perked up when someone mentioned the
Russian language. I think I was the only American in the room.
Any guesses on what page and chapter our class started on? Pages 1-10? Chapter 1? Nope. Not even close. We started on page 158 or so, in the middle of chapter 5, practicing a grammar activity that I had never even been exposed to before. There were very little explanations, and I think I might have slightly understood it by the time we reached the end. Maybe.
In other words, the computer work was too easy, and the classroom was too hard.
After all this agony, when class had ended, I had one bit of consolation. A young woman and I introduced ourselves to each other in English. She came from South Africa in the spring to join her boyfriend here and was surprised at how good my reading was. :)
During the break time, I simply stood in the area with the vending machines and people-watched. I played "name that language" (in my head) and listened to a girl speaking basic Spanish - I assume it was the only common language with the other girl - along with some possible Polish and Portuguese speakers.
8:30 rolled around and it was time to head to my classroom, as labeled on the paper they had mailed me. Nope. Wrong classroom, or rather, the classroom had changed without them notifying me. The woman from administration was there, and said I could stay, but it would be too hard/easy for me. :) They pointed me to another woman and said to go with her.
I entered my classroom and found a seat next to some younger ladies. Since I did not have a book, the teacher suggested I share with the girl sitting next to me. (Shouldn't I have gotten a book on my first day??)
 |
| The book I got after class ended |
Any guesses on what page and chapter our class started on? Pages 1-10? Chapter 1? Nope. Not even close. We started on page 158 or so, in the middle of chapter 5, practicing a grammar activity that I had never even been exposed to before. There were very little explanations, and I think I might have slightly understood it by the time we reached the end. Maybe.
In other words, the computer work was too easy, and the classroom was too hard.
After all this agony, when class had ended, I had one bit of consolation. A young woman and I introduced ourselves to each other in English. She came from South Africa in the spring to join her boyfriend here and was surprised at how good my reading was. :)
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving a comment! Please consider subscribing to my blog via the link on the right!