teaching english... learning hindi

I pulled my backpack on loaded with paper, pens, folders, flash cards and candy. I stepped out into the Indian jungle humidity and with a gigantic smile on my face began the quarter-mile trek to the boys unit. I suddenly felt like I was in the middle of a memoir of some brave soul who had traveled to the remotest places of the earth to teach English. Although, my experience was much cushier than any of those romantic adventure stories, it didn’t matter. I was elated. I had four back-to-back classes to teach for boy’s ages 8 to 17… and I fell in love.

Jessica, my partner in crime and teaching buddy, arrived later that day. Our schedule was rigorous.

6am - Wake up whistle

7am - Devotions (we lead these half of the time)

7:30am – Breakfast (Monday’s our favorite breakfast was served – CHIPATI & gravy)

8:15am – Teaching young women ages 16 to 25

11:30 am to 5pm – We taught either four boys classes or we traveled 30 minutes into the city to teach the teenage girls in Badlapur

5pm – Tea Time

6:30pm – Beginners English class with the women

8pm – Dinner

9pm - Once a week Jessica taught a counseling group called Visions

10pm – Everyone else lights out… Jessica and I had lesson planning

Midnight – We passed out under our mosquito net

We had an absolute blast teaching English. It was incredibly exhausting to try to speak in simple English and try to understand broken English 24/7. But our students kept us energized because of their eagerness to learn. We often would break them up into groups and have them create short skits in English on the given topic of the day. Prior to this trip I don’t think I full understood the term “miscommunication.” The boys were so funny and I laughed until I cried on a number of occasions. The older women, whom are called the Auntie’s, were equally entertaining, generally causing the entire class to erupt in laughter as their response revealed they completely misunderstood the question.

These Auntie’s however, had their revenge on us each morning and evening as we walked to the dining hall. They would walk arm in arm with Jessica and I, grilling us on Hindi and teaching us new phrases. It was such a good reminder for us daily of how difficult it can be to learn a new language. Hindi is beautiful… and so different. I swore I could repeat exactly what I heard them say and I would still be saying it wrong. It got to be exasperating at times. I just don’t know how to contort my mouth to make those sounds!

I have never done such rewarding work in my life. As we left they showered us with thanks, telling us how much they learned. I didn’t feel like we did that much! But in the short six weeks that we were there, we saw a great amount of improvement. These people so value their education. They consider it such a privilege to learn and to be taught English by a native-English speaker is quite rare. I fell in love with all of my students and somewhat feel like I bailed on them when I came home. Part of my heart is still somewhere in the jungle of India… I hope I get to return someday soon.