Being A Teacher Again

Am enjoying being a teacher again even though I meet my class only two hours a week, - from two to three on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They are group of twelve African young men who are in the novitiate of the Christian Brothers here in Tamale. They hail from Kenya, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Liberia and Cameroon, all of which have English as an official language except for Cameroon which has French. However, although the schooling in their respective countries was in the official tongue, all spoke the colloquial language of their regions at home, and depending on the level of education completed, their English proficiency varies. The student from Cameroon, for example, is quite proficient both in French and English whereas another student from the Gambia didn't begin his formal education until the age of seventeen. In addition to grammar and basic usage of the language in conversation and writing, pronunciation is an important area of concentration. The Kenyans, especially, have great difficulty with the "r" and the "l" sounds, often substituting one for the other. There are no teaching materials to speak of so I just ad-lib. The young men are very appreciative and I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from them as well.