Day 9: Language Barriers

I had my lesson ready, materials gathered, and was nervous but ready for the day. It was naive of me to assume that anything would go the way I had planned it, and yet I did. I don't know if I can even describe how nerve-wracking it is to stand in front of a class of 6 year olds who don't speak the same language as you and are expected to teach them without a translator. Both the teacher and the teacher assistant had left the classroom for their hour long lunch and time had never moved slower to me. It was one of those moments where you know you have to hold it together, but every part of yourself is telling you to burst out into tears. Luckily, I didn't and we got through the day. By the end of the day, I was worn down and distraught. I was angry at myself for not being able to think on my toes as well as I needed to and upset at how much I had supremely underestimated the complications of language barriers.

What was most difficult was that it was not only language barriers between myself and the students, but also between myself and the teachers. Up until this point, all the adults and teachers that we had met in schools had been able to speak fluent English and it made me assume that this was a foregone conclusion when that is most certainly not the case.

We still had to teach 2 more days at the school and I was determined to make them count; determined to do better and to be better than I had been on the first day.