Culture Sharing at CENTRAM

 Happy Halloween!

It has now been four weeks since school started up at CENTRAM, and it feels like time has flown by. CENTRAM is the school where I teach English from 4-6pm Monday to Friday. There are 8 levels of classes (Beginner 1 & 2, Intermediate Low 1 & 2, Intermediate High 1 & 2, and Advanced 1 & 2).

I teach Intermediate High 1 & 2 and I have eight students in my Intermediate High 1 class and two students in my Intermediate High 2 class. We use a workbook called ‘English for the Sahel’. I believe that it is a good book to learn English from for a couple reasons:

1) It provides practice in Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking with exercises in Reading Comprehension, Listening skills, Grammar, Pronunciation, Writing, and Translation. This allows students to learn using a variety of methods.

2) It is written by the people of the Sahel with an American editor.This allows for it to be culturally appropriate. It uses names like Fati and Ali, and also culturally relevant situations like fixing a bicycle, or how to make tea. I feel that it is rare to find books that properly incorporate the African culture.

The use of the book is not perfect however because there is a lot to cover in the 3 months. I calculated that there were 8 chapters that needed to be covered which would mean that every 3 days I needed to move to another chapter. This makes it difficult for me to add my own activities yet from time to time I will create an additional exercise, or have pronunciation sentences to practice. (For example: Ruth thinks it’s silly to throw a sloth through the window!- Let’s practice those TH’s that are so difficult for French speakers.)

My favourite teaching time is every Friday when I have ‘lab’. This means that both Intermediate High 1 and 2 are together, and I do not work from the textbook. The other exciting part of lab is that there is a newly bought projector that can be used (however if you are reading this and you know anything about connecting MacBook Airs to a projector let me know. I was able to successfully connect it the first time I tried, but since then, when I plug in the cords, my computer does not recognize that I’m plugged into the projector. Any help would be appreciated.) I have done a variety of things with my students. We have played games, practiced pronunciation, watched short clips like commercials, and listened to audio clips. Students also had the opportunity to think about and then discuss topics that I give (e.g. Village vs. City life, What is the best way to learn English etc.) and I have learned pieces of their culture through this.

I have also had the privilege of sharing pieces of my Canadian culture with my class. For Thanksgiving, we created a Thanksgiving tree where students wrote things they were thankful for. Today, we are going to discuss Halloween (which does not exist here) and I will give them candies at the end of the class. It is great to learn about their culture and share aspects of my own, all the while teaching English!

Riding along

I was trying to figure out what to title this blog. Should I call it “When two roads cross”, “The road less travelled”, “The long and winding road” or even “On the road again”. Roads here in Moundou are the subject of this blog.

In Moundou, there are a number of newly paved roads. These roads have been paved by Chinese companies. These paved roads make it much easier to travel around the city, however it is only main roads that are paved. The majority of roads are still just dirt. This means that in the rainy season they are full of puddles and in the dry season they are full of holes and they produce dust storms when it’s windy.

To get from my house to CENTRAM, you begin on a dirt road. Then you turn onto a road which becomes a paved road and the rest of the roads are paved. While on the moto, there is always lots to see. I pass a number of restaurants, mosques, and vendors on the side of the road. I pass little children shouting ‘Nasara’ (white person), little booths selling phone credit and people waiting in long lines for gas. (Side note, right now there is a gas shortage in Chad as because the Chadian government is in dispute with the Chinese refinery. This means that there are only a few gas stations that have gas, and long lines for it. Gas prices tripled from 500 CFA to 1500 CFA per litre, where $1 is equal to about 500 CFA. This means that gas is now $3/L, or in some cases even more.)

It takes about 7 minutes to get to CENTRAM from my house by moto and it is during this time that I’m able to see glimpses of the everyday lives of other Chadians.

Before ending, I did want to give you a little information on the RULES OF THE ROAD!

1) The smaller you are the less power you have.

This means that if you are a pedestrian you have no power. If you are a car on the other hand you can do what you want. Power order: pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, cars, trucks. If they can hit you, get out of their way. I think of the streets of France where cars always stop for pedestrians and it is a far cry from here!

2) Stoplights are suggestions.

This is not the case for all vehicles. There are many that will stop when there is a red light, but it is important to make sure to check. What I have found is that often motorcycles with not go forward if it is a red light but they feel that it is ok to turn left or right (checking for traffic first). It’s a slightly different system.

3) Stopping in roundabouts

There are a number of roundabouts in Moundou, but the rule is the opposite from any I’ve seen. People entering roundabout have the right of way here instead of those already in them. This means that you enter the roundabout but then need to stop for any vehicles entering from the next street.

4) Who needs helmets!

Now before you get all worried, I wear my helmet when I go to work, but I don’t see anyone else wearing one.

Take a look at the attached  picture. You can see me and the administrative director of CENTRAM in the mirror. This is what a typical paved road looks like and on the left is a gas station.

I’ve also attached a sketch (not to scale and not totally accurate either) of my normal route to CENTRAM. There are stoplights (red circles), a roundabout (green circle) and even a speed bump (blue circle) along the way.

Bakourou

What is  Bakourou?

Bakourou is hard peanut butter sticks, that are very yummy and are eaten by people in Chad.

How is it made?

Mila (one of the ladies who lives with us and cooks food) has a Bakourou operation. There are many steps needed to make Bakourou:

1) Get peanuts

2) Peel all the peanuts (or make sure the shells are already off)

3) Put them in the sun for 2-3 days (or 1 day if it’s sunny the whole day)

4) Cook them over a hot fire with some sand for 5-6 minutes

5) Take off the red skin of the peanuts

6) Bring it to the mill

7) Add salt and water and turn for about 20-30 minutes

8) It becomes a paste

9) There is a separation of peanut oil and paste

10 Roll the paste into 15-20 cm snakes (1-2 cm in diameter)

11) Fry them in oil

12) Sell them at the market or in the home 50 CFA per bag

How is it eaten?

This may seem like a simple question, however Bakourou is very hard. Therefore if you are eating it by itself, you should use your back teeth. I have seen one of my cousins soak it in water to make it easier to eat. Another option is to buy some sugar and to crush the Bakourou with the sugar, creating a powder mixture that is delicious and much less difficult on the teeth.

Term End Picnic at CENTRAM

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of participating in the Term End Picnic. It began around 3:30pm and by 4pm, teachers, and honoured guests were eating a lovely meal of couscous, chicken, and vegetables. We then moved into a room full of benches and chairs where the ‘talent portion’ of the picnic began.

The talent portion involved students who shared poems and discussions about a variety of topics including AIDS, trees, English training, and piano lessons.

It was great to see students who worked hard to memorize and perform different acts in English. It made me realize that students are learning English well and are proud to share that.

Then there were a few speakers who talked about how to improve English and its importance. I also gave a small talk about some of the differences between American English and British English.

One of my favourite parts of the picnic was having the opportunity to lead some singers in 3 songs. (Before the picnic, we had a few practices.) We sang ‘Come all you people’, ‘This is the Day’, ‘When the Saints/This train is bound for glory.’  What a fun moment to be able to sing with Chadians in English. I hope to be able to teach other English songs throughout the year! (I have posted a short video of this on Facebook- unfortunately it would not load on my blog, so please check it out!)

Overall it was a great celebration of food, discussion and sharing and I was happy that I was able to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to the next picnic, which will happen at the end of the next term.

CENTRAM

This year I’m working at the Center of American English (CENTRAM). CENTRAM was founded in 2008 by Sem Beashel, and currently there are 8 levels: Beginner 1 & 2, Intermediate Low 1 & 2, Intermediate High 1 & 2, Advanced 1 & 2. Classes are held from 4-6pm Monday to Friday for adult students.

CENTRAM has four 3-month sessions a year. When I first arrived, they were in the middle of the summer session (which ended at the end of September). Therefore I was planning on arriving, meeting teachers, learning curriculum, and possibly helping out in classes before beginning to teach the next session.

The first time I arrived at CENTRAM I was excited to meet the teachers and students. Sem picked me up at my house and we went to school. I arrived to find out that one of the teachers would be late. I was therefore thrown into a beginner class and told to introduce myself, ask their names and begin teaching. I was a little in shock and felt a bit like a substitute teacher, but with no lesson plans, no preparations and no prior knowledge. Also I wanted to speak English with them, however their English as a beginner class was very limited. It was difficult to understand how they were used to being instructed and what the structure of the class was.

This same situation happened a number of times in the coming weeks, and for the first few times, I felt a little lost, confused and not too helpful. I tried to teach them using their textbook, but I was not used to their teachers’ style. Little by little I was able to learn about the teacher’s style and combine it with my own. I taught some English songs, I made the class more interactive, and allowed students to participate orally as much as possible. I felt like I was able to teach English in a manner that the students were learning, asking questions and participating. It was a positive time.

Starting o Monday, October 6, 2014, I will begin teaching my own class (level Intermediate High 1 & 2). I am looking forward to planning, preparing, and teaching my own class. I hope to help students feel more comfortable speaking, listening, reading and writing in English.