Some Thoughts on Working Abroad

Robin Gingerich  [email protected] 

I’m looking through my window this morning at the beautiful white snow that fell during the night here in Klaipeda, Lithuania. I love the snow, and it seems that magically the Christmas spirit is still hanging around. This year, instead of returning to my home in Iowa, I spent the Christmas holidays here in Lithuania. Although I missed my family, I was able to spend plenty of time relaxing, reading, and concentrating on the meaning of the season. (Don’t worry, I wasn’t a couch potato; I also went running, skiing, skating, and swimming as well.) I grew more and more conscious that God’s love, which we celebrate at Christmas, holds meaning every day of our lives.

This semester I’m teaching three English classes: one intermediate and two advanced. I find it challenging to always have relevant and challenging material ready for my students while juggling administrative responsibilities at the same time. But I am reminded that the students themselves actually make my work meaningful and, more often than not, it is a comment or a smile or a joke told by students in class that really makes the class “excellent.” Yes, I do strive for meaningful lesson plans, but the students must remain my focus and, ultimately, my mission.

The snow is still falling. It’s hard to imagine that graduation and summer are just around the corner. But as the spring semester moves along, we are eager for what God has planned for us this year.

Grammar Funnies

Teaching English as a foreign language means that our students need strong grammar skills. ELI students ask for and need to understand the structures of English in order to advance in their communication skills. English is their third or fourth language. They welcome clear explanations of grammar points. Therefore, grammar exercises are included in almost all of our lesson plans. Often ELI teachers are hunting for interesting and clear ways to explain grammar items, such as verb tenses or modals.

This makes for great conversation in the teachers’ room. This semester, the ELI teachers are challenging themselves to tackle simple and complicated grammar exercises in order to benefit their teaching and, ultimately, their students. However, they find themselves saying some pretty odd things. Below are a few “grammar funnies” from the ELI staff.

·          One morning, Marg came into Robin’s office and announced, “You have been married.” Robin, a perfectly happy single person, was delighted but wondered who the lucky guy was. Marg was really asking how to understand have been married in this context. Actually, in this case, the sentence is passive and therefore the past participle married is used. But we normally use simple present, you are married, to say someone got married and is still married. Or we could say you have been married by the priest to confirm that the sentence is passive. Either way, Robin remains happily single.

·          Returning to campus from teaching at the local shipping company, Luke exclaimed, “I’m loving this semester!” Robin questioned him, “But can you really use a state verb in the continuous tense?” Often state verbs (e.g., understand, love, like, think) are used in the simple tense; their meaning actually changes in the continuous tense. Luke should have exclaimed, “I love my job now and I will always love my job here!” Then we would be sure that he has been enjoying his experience at Lithuania Christian College and will continue to enjoy it.

·          Robin wrote an email to the teachers reminding them about the upcoming teachers’ meeting. In the email she wrote, “Be prepare to share one interesting story about what you learned during your first week of teaching this semesters.” Luke responded, in jest: “I believe your imperative verb "be prepare" was incorrect.  You have various options at your disposal:  "be prepared", "should be prepared", "please be prepared", and "do whatever you dang well please".  The ELI staff is committed to pursuing high standards and we take our cues faithfully from you.  In the future please be prepared to send us grammatically correct memorandums.  Respectfully but embarrassingly yours, Luke.” Robin apologized to her staff and vowed to be more careful in her emails.

The ELI staff is committed to laughing and to learning. J

Robin Gingerich is the director of the English Language Institute attached to Lithuania Christian College.