Grammar

So I think I just had my worst class last night. I never thought teaching grammar could be so difficult. Last night I was teaching the grammar point mustn't, don't have to, have to, should, shouldn't and must. All of my students were fine at first and they understood it, but when I did an exercise for them to practice, my whole class changed. I went over the answers and about half of them got one answer and I said another. I tried to explain why it wasn't the one answer but then they all started to argue and discuss in czech why. It was crazy and for some reason I confused them all. I tried to go through the grammar in the back of their book to help them,but they were taught differently. I gave them more practice, I hope that they will understand. I am not sure what i said that was so different or what confused them. I hope on Wednesday we can go through it again and clarify any confusion. GRAMMAR!!!!!!

Another Czech Update

Another week of teaching has past. I feel like I have been teaching for months now. I have honestly felt like i have lived at Winfield College because I am planning for one lesson after another. Sometimes it takes me forever to prepare one 90 minute lesson. Why? That I am not sure........I think sometimes my perfection comes out.
My team and I have an outstanding joke that Winfield is like our second home here in Cheb, you have the upstairs where the school is and the downstairs where hypernova is (which is a supermarket). We go downstairs almost everyday to get lunch and then come back upstairs to eat it. What more do you need? I know in time I won't spend that much time lesson planning like I do now. It will come easier as time goes on. I really don't live that far away from Winfield that eventually I can start going home more often. At least that is my goal.
Along with teaching, I have had the opportunity to reunite with some old Czech friends as well. I just feel so blessed to have those friendships here. God has blessed me in different ways through each of them. It is still really hard to believe that I am seeing them again in Cheb. When I left Cheb, I thought I would never see them again. God is so amazing!!!!

In the world of teaching.....

After a week of vacation here in the Czech republic, it was hard to get into lesson planning mode. I spent several hours trying to figure out the best lesson for the first day. I was presented the challenge that most of these students know each other, its only me that doesn't know all of them. Also, i had to remember how to do lesson plans. I think in the end my lesson plan finally came together and it was great because i could use it for multiple classes. Praise the lord!!!
On Monday I taught my first lesson, which i think went well. It was great to see old students and also meet new ones. In all of my classes I was asked the famous question "why did you come back to the Czech republic?" That is always a complicated question to answer. It is not common here for teachers to leave and then to come back after a short time. Several students were surprised with my answer that i love the people here and that i love the Czech republic.
i am looking forward to embark in a new adventure this year. Also, for the new challenge that lays ahead of me. I will be working with mostly adults and i have one class with young people.
I will keep you posted as time goes on........

learning the language

Funny Story about learning the language...........
The other day I was with my teammates at a restaurant called Flora in Cheb. We were all ordering drinks...one of my teammates order a "coke"...not thinking anything of it. The waitress later came out with two Coke Colas and handed one of my teammates a very small glass with a brownish-orange liquid in it. The funny thing is that the waitress thought that my teammate ordered a "Grog" and not a "coke-cola." So the waitress thought she wanted this alcoholic drink called grog......So we kindly explained to the waitress that we wanted a coke-cola,not grog, that we were very sorry... we all laughed afterwards..The beauties of learning the language and things of what not to say..........my poor teammate-).

Another funny story........
This last Thursday I met up with a Czech friend and we went shopping around in Cheb. When we were in a store the clerk asked us if she could help us with anything. My friend responded to her in Czech that we were just looking. Then I asked my friend to teach me how to say it in Czech...jenom se kukam..so I was practicing this so I could remember how to say it. As I was practicing this phrase over and over again I said ...jenom se okukam...which means " I am only a bird." We both just laughed. I am very thankful that I didn't actually say that to anyone. I know that I will have more moments like that this year as i am learning the language. Just one little letter can change the whole word or just how you pronounce the word can mean something completely different.