Two Months!

I've officially been in Ecuador for two months now. It's definitely been interesting! I've learned a new teaching method, one that I think is quite beneficial to teaching a second language. It's amazing to learn that some of the students who seem nearly fluent in English have only been studying here for maybe a year, maybe two at the most. The method that this center uses follows Stephen Krashen's method of Second Language Acquisition. Basically, the students learn the second language the same way that they learned their first. They start first with just listening, then with repetition and trying to imitate the sounds themselves. Then they can participate in mini-conversations with the other students and with the computer as well so that way they can start learning their second language. They do learn grammar, but it's almost an after-thought. The grammar is taught after they have already listened and heard some of the vocabulary and different words in the computer system. Acquiring the "grammar" of English is a natural process for them, rather than the way that I remember learning Spanish.

Most of us in the United States learn grammar first, along with vocabulary. Speaking follows after we've mastered basic vocabulary. I remember in Spanish 1 and 2 in high school, for instance, we would learn a ton of vocabulary and have verb conjugation drills for our homework. There would be some speaking in Spanish 1, and a little more in Spanish 2, but by the time you reached Spanish 3, it was expected that you would probably be able to converse at least at an average level of ability with speaking Spanish. In my case, and many other students as well, there was that disconnect between acquisition and practice. Here, my Spanish is already improving. I've found that with the number of new students that we've been receiving lately that I've had the chance to explain English grammar in Spanish to my students. It's been rewarding for me, especially, to see their comprehension when they realize what certain grammar points are. They understand that I'm practicing Spanish, so they help me when I say something in a way that doesn't really make sense to a native speaker, and I help them. It's been a lot of fun so far, and already I feel that my Spanish has improved quite a bit since coming here.

I am definitely glad, however, that China was my first experience with living outside of the United States. Many things here I know would have easily bothered me or concerned me had I not been there first. For instance, things do get communicated here. However, sometimes it is still only an hour or two before...or it's only half an explanation. In China, sometimes I didn't find things out in English until after it had already happened. There was one time when I found out I'd be teaching a class by myself twenty minutes after the class had already ended. Luckily by that point, I had enough of a working knowledge of Mandarin that I could ask the classroom teachers what was happening and go with the flow. Take today, for instance. Usually every Friday, we have "social club" activities for the students, where students of any level can come and practice their English for an hour with their fellow students. This is both very beneficial as it gives them a free hour to speak and to interact with students at all levels. I was asked to be in charge of this social club a few days ago, but never really informed that it would just be me running it (usually, it's me and another teacher). I found out from another teacher that I would be here by myself tonight with the receptionist. This is quite normal in Ecuador, and a lot of things are just understood without having to be said here. I know that before last year, this would have bothered me a lot; however, I'm learning how to adapt really easily to newer situations that might come up like this.

This same is true for how the transportation works in Ecuador. For instance, there's no "official" bus schedule written anywhere that I've found, yet everyone seems to just understand how the buses work. They know, for example, that the buses leave every 15-20 minutes, they know how much they are, and they know where the stops are. None of this is marked anywhere, so for a foreigner, it can be quite daunting sometimes. It's definitely been interesting, but that's all part of what makes living abroad a fun adventure!

The Equator...and pictures!

One of the unique places in the entire world is right here where I'm living. I live perhaps ten minutes from the actual equatorial line, at the foot of a volcano and in the middle of a mountain range. It's definitely a very exciting place to be. I had the unique opportunity to travel to the equator almost a week ago today with some of my students. It was rewarding to share this first experience with some of them, as some of them have lived here their entire lives but have never actually visited the equator line.

I took 5 students with me to see the equator and we, of course, had to try to balance eggs on the equator line. It's rumored that this is the only place in the world where this is possible because of how gravity works with the bulge of the earth. So, the majority of this post will just be some pictures of me, some of my students, and some of the things we got to do on the equator!

That line that you see is the equator. Pretty neat, huh? :D It's the only place in the world where the equator falls on highlands! Not even the equatorial line in Quito crosses Ecuador where there are mountains. Pretty neat stuff!

Our guide at the equator told us that it was possible to balance an egg anywhere in the world, not just on the equator line. So, we had to try it for ourselves! As soon as we got back to the school, we spent maybe forty five minutes trying to balance an egg and the four of us who were sitting at the table kept trying to get it to balance. I was quick enough with a camera to capture this proud moment on film! Granted, we are only about ten minutes from the equator, so this isn't really the best scientific test in the world. Can you guys try? :D