tutoring

Today I had a long walk home after my tutoring session. Great guy wanted the car, and as it's his car, I couldn't really say anything. But, the weather was beautiful; sunny, blue sky, cool-ish but not cold, spring-jacket-type day equals a very nice walk.

The path I walked edged a large, hillside weinberg (vineyard) with rows and rows of barren, naked vines. They looked ready. Ready for spring and growth and grapes. And, I looked ready for wine.

My English tutoring sessions are mostly lovely. The 17-year-old girl, who I was with today, is bright and chipper, sweet and warm. But, she is frustrated with her English. Or, maybe she's just frustrated with her English teacher. He, according her and her classmates, hates anyone who doesn't speak English well. I think that definition would probably include most native English speakers!

Today, she had to write an essay about the movie, 'An Inconvenient Truth'. They watched the movie over 2 classes, in English, with no English sub-titles. Needless to say, not many students understood much about what Al Gore was saying. It's a great movie, but I know plenty of English speakers who would have trouble understanding the heavy concepts and quick, wordiness of that movie. There is little chance I would understand it if I watched it in German.

So, I helped her a bit, hopefully, and tried to boost her self-confidence. She speaks English well, probably the best of all my students, so I find it a shame that she's so insecure and frightened about speaking. Teachers have a lot of power...wish they would all use their power for good.