Day 2 of teaching

Dobrý deň!

Today was our second day of teaching English as a Foreign Language and we loved it. We have between 20-25 students this year and 10 teachers. This ratio of 2 students per teacher is great and allows for maximum conversation for each student. Students are mostly in groups of 4 with 2 teachers per group. We were pleased yesterday to see beloved returning students from past years: Dominica, Lucas, Milan, Zuzanna, Marian, and Michaela as well as meeting new students. Our students are in the age ranges of pre-teens to adults. They are kind, energetic, and intelligent. They are willing to try new things and learn as much English as possible.

We start each day at 8:30 am with an Opening group time of singing from songbooks and playing a group game. Today we did the Hokey Pokey as a group and laughed as we shook our legs, hips, hands, heads, etc. In class today, some groups learned idioms such as: 'Kicked the bucket', 'At the end of my rope', and 'His bark is worse than his bite'. They reviewed and discussed their personal values, what their home lives are like, and had interesting discussions regarding the Values homework assignment 'How I would spend one million euros' . Other groups learned how to describe their families and jobs, various grammatical structures, and practiced conversations regarding where they live, activities they enjoy, their age, jobs, living situations, etc. We teachers also learned a lot today! We learned that Slovaks do not use the word stove. Instead, they use the word cooker, which includes both an oven and a stove. Also, there are no donuts or bagels in Slovakia! I personally learned that all female last names end in "ova"; men's do not. At the end of the day, all the students and teachers come together from 2:45-3 pm (dismissal time) for a Closing. During this time we discuss a 'question of the day' with each other. Today's 'question of the day' was: Tell 3 things you learned today. Prizes are given away and a group song, One in Love, is sung.

We are so thankful to be here and interact with our students. We really enjoy them. :)

This photo was taken on 'Day 1' with all our team and the other EFL teaching team from Washington

Milan, a returning student, and his wife and baby :)

Team meeting