I really do believe in general, teachers make horrible students. I know I am very guilty of this. But this time around, I am making a much more concerted effort to be a better student. And the subject matter is actually very interesting. How people learn and acquire language is not by memorizing conjugation tables and what part of speech a word is, yet that is how I was taught German and Spanish. It is also how I tried to teach all my Burmese ladies this summer.
Every time they point out a bad teaching practice, I realize that is exactly how I tried to teach these poor women English. At some point, when I am back in Denver visiting, I will go and apologize to them! To be fair, I did make them CDs with some great Beatles songs on them to help their pronunciation, but I don't think that makes up for what a horrible teacher I was. Not that I was a bad teacher on purpose, I just had never been taught how to teach a foreign language effectively.
This weekend we will head up to Angkor Wat, one of the Wonders of the World. For all you Angelina Jolie fans, Tomb Raider was filmed there. (On a side note, one of the tuk tuk drivers for the school loves her so much, he tells everyone his name is Mr. Smith. It's kind of adorable.) I am excited to head up there, and just wander around. The majority of the people in school with me are recent college graduates and they are all headed to Thailand to live on the beach. They are looking forward to the fact that our hotel will have a pool. I am sensing that I will spend a fair amount of time on my own, unless I want to be part of Angkor Wat Fall Break 2011...
I have been bad about taking pictures recently, so no new ones to post. But I leave you with this. The monks who used to wake me up and annoy me with their chanting have become my new alarm clock, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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