Highlights from a Good Week

Here are some highlights from my past week...

This week I started tutoring my favorite little boy Datu Afif. For those of you who receive my newsletters, I wrote about him in my February newsletter. He is 5 years old and quite the cutie. I will be tutoring him from 5 pm - 6pm every Tuesday and Thursday. This past Wednesday morning when his dad dropped him off at school he started crying... rare, I don't think I've ever seen him cry. Principal and his dad were talking to him in Malay and I couldn't understand... but I heard them say the word tutoring. After his dad took him to class I asked Principal what the problem was and if he had enjoyed being tutored the day before.... I was a little worried maybe he didn't like it, or it was too much pressure or something. She laughed and said, "Well he said he didn't want to come to school anymore, he just wanted to be tutored!" Hahaha... so cute! :) I went to his class to check on him after his dad left and he was completely fine... so that was good.

Thursday was our second tutoring session we review the letters b and c. When we were learning b I taught him the word boy and explained that he was a boy and I was a girl. Since girl didn't start with b or c, I only said it that once and didn't repeat it again. At the end of tutoring I took a picture of the two of us (pictured above). He asked to me to show him the picture and when I did he pointed to himself and said "boy" then pointed to me and said "girl" I was so proud! Up until now he hasn't seemed to have the greatest memory but maybe with some one-on-one attention it will be a lot better. I'm also looking forward to see how much progress I can make with him in the next few months. He is pretty much at the beginning... barely knows any English... and this is my first time giving one-on-one tutoring which is what I think I enjoy the most. So we'll see! So far it's great.

On Thursday afternoon got the craving for grilled cheese. So I asked Principal to take me to the store and said I'd make dinner for the family. So I made grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. Jennifer and Ivy, Principal's daughters (ages 19 and 17) were so excited because they play the Sims game on their computer and they said they always feed there people grilled cheese but they didn't know what it was... it just sounded good to them :) Haha... I honestly didn't think Principal and her family would like it because people do not eat cheese here but they actually really enjoyed it and want me to make it again. It was delicious (although the cheese doesn't compare) and a nice dinner to have!

Happy Palm Sunday!

So Many Languages

Last night Principal, her daughters and I went to the beach for dinner. Delicious food + a beautiful sunset = my favorite place to eat in KK. While enjoying the view and the sunset we had an interesting conversation about what it's like growing up learning three languages as Principal's daughters, Jennifer, Ivy and Kristy did. After living here for almost seven months it still amazes me to hear someone quickly switch from speaking Malay, to Mandarin and then to English. It's something I hear pretty regularly so I feel I shouldn't be so awe struck anymore, but as I struggle to learn one foreign language the fact that everyone I'm around regularly speaks three languages still seems pretty incredible. I asked the girls what it was like growing up with parents whose first languages are different. Principal's husband is Malay and he doesn't know how to speak Mandarin, which is Principal's first language. The girls said that since they didn't know anything else, it was pretty regular. Their dad always spoke Malay to them and so they have always spoken Malay with him... and their mom always spoke Mandarin to them so they have always spoken Mandarin with her... and I witness that's how it is to this day. It's fun to observe but I will admit as I try to learn the languages (mainly Malay) it has its moments of frustration. The whole family knows English well but they only speak it when I'm around.

It's also amazing to me that Principal's husband (I call him Uncle) doesn't speak Mandarin...although he can understand quite a bit, he doesn't speak it. From what I've observed the majority language spoken in their home is Mandarin. I laughed when Jennifer said that sometimes when Uncle is scolding Kristy (age 9) she will mumble Mandarin under her breath. I would think that it would be quite frustrating living having your daughters and wife usually speaking a language you can't speak... but Principal and the girls said it doesn't really bother him.

Not only is the language barrier an interesting dynamic in the family life here but also it's also something I enjoy observing in the school. At our school most of the children come to us knowing two languages well... whether it's Mandarin and Malay, or Mandarin and English or Malay and English. Often when a teacher is just generally speaking to the class she will say most things in two languages, sometimes all three. The curriculum and weekly schedule is set up as such that the teachers have different parts of the day when they are to be speaking one given language to the students and it rotates through out the week. For example during snack time on Monday the teachers only speak Mandarin to the students... on Tuesday they only speak Malay and on Wednesday only English. All general parts of the school day are scheduled this way. The teachers actually have a set number of minutes they are suppose to speak each language to the students every week.

Recently I have begun to feel like the students are really beginning to grasp the idea of English. As their English teacher this is obviously a very rewarding feeling. It is absolutely incredible to me how quickly their young brains can absorb a new language. They seem to progressively understand me better and are starting to speak with me more and more. As I learn more Malay I am able to understand when they speak to me in Malay and then translate it to English for them.

It's safe to say I am fully enjoying the opportunity to be around people speaking three different languages and I look forward to see how much further the children's English skills will progress.

A Wonderful Start to the Week

This week is a holiday break for the school. There isn't any holiday but we can't really call is Spring break because there is no such thing as Spring here! I am looking forward to having the week to relax and catch up on life and lesson plans... but I am already missing the children.

Today, I decided to go downtown KK to a coffee shop and get caught up on emails and work on my newsletter. To get downtown I take the public bus, which is about a 15/20 minute drive depending on traffic. As usual I got on the bus at the stop closest to my house. At the following stop a Muslim women got on the bus, sat next to me and quickly started up a conversation. At first I was caught off guard because her English was so good. Of course, she asked where I was from and what I was doing in Malaysia. She was such a sweet lady; she talked to me for the rest of the ride to KK. She told me about her family and her job as a primary school teacher (children age 10). She told me about her home town, a remote village with no running water and electricity. She told me about the families and children that lived there now and how hard their lives are; that they struggle to get food. I felt pretty touched that she felt so comfortable sharing so much with me and the unexpected conversation on the bus certainly brightened my morning. It reminded me that you never know what your day holds and who you will find a companion in.

Although, I have only had someone talk to me on the bus on one other occasion, this is a perfect example of how friendly the people of KK are. I stick out like sore thumb here and I get starred at quite a bit, but usually if I look at the people starring they will smile back at me. Now and then people will strike up conversations with me and I always enjoy the opportunity to learn more about KK and Malaysia through another persons eyes.

Happy Monday!

2 pictures from my day

I have to apologize for not posting a blog recently. I will admit that the main reason is because I keep thinking the next post I made needed to be something extravagant since I haven't posted in such a long time. However, I am realizing now, that this is a blog and there is no need for that. As always there is no way for me to easily share every part of my life here and I can't always keep everyone up to speed on everything. The main purpose of this blog is just to share fun little stories and reflections about my life here.

So I simply want to share two pictures with you from my day today. The first picture is of Nureen. As you can see she is on the swings at our school playground and she is reading a book. I took the picture at my afternoon tutoring class. I always give the children time to play on the playground, which for most of the kids seems to be the highlight of the afternoon. However, Nureen is usually a bit more quiet and often prefers to sit next to me and read. Today she decided to play and read. She first spent a few minutes sitting on the slide reading and then when I swing opened up, she swung and read for a good ten minutes. It was a cute sight to see.

The picture below is of myself and Alyssa and Yazleen. They are two other girls in my afternoon tutoring class. I typically enjoy teaching my afternoon class but today was especially nice because I only had 12 kids instead of the normal number of 18 kids. It was a relaxed day and I let the kids have most of the time to play with whatever toys they wanted... whether it be play dough, coloring, painting or writing on the white board...which was the favorite today. They wrote English words and then would read to me what they wrote. They I would say a word in English and they would sound it out and spell it as it sounded. They are a smart group of kids and I enjoy spending my afternoons with them.