GOOD MORNING MISTER JIMMY

So, that’s me done my first few classes. So far so good.

Firstly, I was in Askar Al-Jadeed to work with the teenage girls in the local school. They were mostly thirteen and fourteen year olds and were actually very similar to teenage girls back home. Some were shy, some were studious, some were boisterous, a lot were very giggly. All in all, they were good fun. I agreed to work with them for a month or so initially, but I think I’ll be keen to work with them for longer than that. I might have as many as four classes with the school next week.

My other two groups, Women’s Corner and Women’s Union Committee (WUC), I’m working with twice a week each. They’re both adult groups so very different from the girls. They’re very keen to learn, keep asking for homework and don’t giggle very often. With WUC, I have a local volunteer, Wajeeh, to help me out. He’s a nice lad. It’s been useful to have someone there not only to translate when required but also to explain what things like “present continuous” mean (to me, I mean, not to the group). He’ll also tell me when the stuff I’m doing is maybe a little harder to grasp than I thought. The Women’s Corner group is a little more advanced so I’m able to cope with them on my own.

DOWNTOWN (VIEW FROM WOMEN'S CORNER)

All things considered, I reckon I’m doing okay. I have a lot of experience working with different groups, so I’m happy enough that my delivery is okay. I just hope the content’s good and I’m pitching it at the right level. I’ll be working with these groups for another two and a half months, though, so I’m sure they’ll learn something, even if it’s just the phrase “a wee cup of tea”.