There's Nothing Familiar Within 500 Miles! By Matt Hill in Thailand (1/2)

(1/2), (2/2).

I finally managed to get a picture with some People in for you, this was taken yesterday in my favourite tea shop. The entire bill came to less than a pound, the tea's really thick and sweet, and they leave plates of cakes, buns and somosas on the table in a clever ploy to get you scoffing. So, I've hit the half way point of my time here and suddenly everything's changed - when, at first, I was counting down the weeks as it was so hard, now I'm counting how many weeks I've got left and trying not to let them pass by.

My teaching hit a high point a couple of weeks ago, when I found an easy way to teach debate. As a whole the class thought about the pros and cons of an argument, and then I structured a debate in a simple way. We ended up having a variety of debates going on at once, which was exactly what they wanted to learn - the ability to discuss the situation of their country in English.

English is seen as a crucial tool for them to be able to engage with people who might be able to help their country. They are also aware that their people will have a variety of choices and issues facing them as democracy eventually develops, and with English being the language of the political elite and the global community, English is seen as vital if they are able to play a part in that process, and they desperately want to.

I then discover a new library (run by a small charity that makes resources for use in the many areas where schools are run on a grassroots level, for example refugee camps or migrant communities) and a great new book, Introducing Debate. And this is where a new challenge started! My higher class can hold varied conversations with me but using what we'd think of as quite limited English.

It's astounding to experience the difference in critical thinking ability between a western educated person, and an adult whose initial education was very much teacher says, you write, and who have then suffered from extremely limited contact with the outside world for the last 10 years. So I'm teaching how to generate ideas, starting with the basics. Questions like why do we wear shoes outside? are surprisingly challenging, but it's not the English language that's challenging - it's the ability to think of reasons in relation to ideas.

This week I've covered giving my students an idea, and having them writing two reasons to support it, one comparison and one cause and effect. For example: A chainsaw is better than scissors - why? Because a chainsaw can cut better than scissors. If I use a chainsaw, I can cut more trees. I've also covered how to determine if a newspaper clipping is for or against an idea, and how to use that clipping in a sentence using the structure For example....

My aim is to be able to give them a newspaper article, and then they generate an idea with reasons and an example - we're tantalisingly close but I keep learning that each logical step for us needs to be taught in five steps for them - maybe each as an individual lesson. And each lesson taught effectively ... so because I'm also learning, we're kind of bumbling on together towards that goal.

Last week I had my first mental dip of my travels that caught me surprisingly unaware. Lewis and Martin cancelled their visit a few hours before their planned arrival, and a weekend trip to a National Park with some volunteers fell through.

Continued ....Next page (2/2),

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