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The Shatin Summer English Class of 2002
In late June and early July of 2002 I helped teach a small English class at the Shatin CPC Church. There were 7 students and we met 5 times for 90 minutes each. It was meant to be a sort of "day camp" for the students, most of whom came from the surrounding housing estates and have no church experience or affiliation. I suppose they were "drawn" to the fact that I am a native speaker, and that it was going to be a fun time. It was part of a whole "summer fun" program put on by the church, which included not only my English classes but also soccer classes, kung fu classes, and they even had Japanese language classes (taught by my friend Fumie Yano from the Japan CP church). In addition to the classes mentioned they also had a time where the church people taught them songs and stories about the Bible and Jesus, and they even went on two field trips to the fire department and a police station.
Well, as to my class, I'm not sure that they learned ANY English, frankly. But they really did seem to have some FUN, and I guess that's the main thing. I was told that the highlight was my idea to buy each of them one of those little "disposable" cameras -- you know, the kind where you take the pictures and then send the whole thing to be developed? Well, I thought it would be a cool idea to let them have the camera for a week and then develop the photos and let them make a BOOK out of their photos, like, "This is my Mom" or "This is my favorite toy" or whatever. Well, it cost a WHOLE lot more than I expected!! But whatever, it was worth it to see them getting so amazingly excited about it.
Again, not sure they learned any English from it! But hey...
My so-called "assistant" and translator for the class was a girl named Bonnie from the church. She is a recent college graduate with excellent English and she just radiates fun and energy. But I have to state that the class would have been a total and complete waste for EVERYONE involved if it were not for Bonnie. Because she is so fun, she really had the ability to connect with our students, and they loved her to death, they really did. (By the way, Bonnie said she was thinking about being a cop, if that tells you anything about her "spirit"!)
So, here are some photos of the students from our last day of class, when we had a party. The students' names were Sharon, Fannie, Sally, and Karen for girls, and Ray, Bon, and Leon for the boys (another boy, Ben, had to miss the last day). One girl in particular (Sally) had a "gift" for making gross sandwiches, so that skill is beautifully displayed in several of the photos here.
You can click on the small images to see LARGER versions.
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