July 9

Quite a frustrating day in many ways. I started off the morning with the boys classes doing a similar thing to what I have been doing but this time look at opposites such as big/small, tall/short etc. However the class 2nd and 3rd boys are so hard to discipline and spent most of the time fighting and then shouting to tell me there was fighting going on. I did shout at one stage which startled them all but soon enough they were at it again. In addition to this, the timings of the day were not great as the structure of the day does not seem very rigid to say the least, and when it came to the 5th class boys who are a pleasure to teach, they had gone home already!

I then had a chat with the guy who runs the centre and it seems that there has been some confusion, possibly lost in translation, as to what he wants from me. The class is an English speaking class, so I assumed that the reading, writing etc were being taught by the other English teachers. As a result, I was taking the kinds of topics from the syllabus and doing purely speaking classes on these areas, such as fruits and veg, opposites, body parts etc and trying to make them interactive. As I have mentioned before, the ambitious topics that have been mentioned e.g. water storage, I felt would be needed to be taught in Hindi rather than English as they do not have their basic skills and vocab to have a conversation on such topics. The simpler topics that I have been looking at I felt with the aid of props I could explain well and have a conversation with them, which is what I have been doing. However, now the man running the centre seems to have the same view that I have on the complicated issues but surrounding the whole course and thinks I should be focussing on the main text book and going through it properly because their schools do not - however, this includes reading etc rather than just speaking. So what do I do!? I has been doing well developing their understanding and speaking skills using the basic topics, yet have now essentially been told that what I have been doing is not good and they do not understand.

Well, in the afternoon I started going through the exercises in the book and it was evident early on that it was not working as they did not understand what they were reading and I could not explain in Hindi. They were bored and wanted to do the stuff I had been doing the last few days that they obviously really enjoyed. It also upset me that one of the girls who is really bright in the speaking classes, got upset because she could not read very well. She is very clever yet has taken a big hit to her confidence because she has not been taught to read like she should have been - no fault of her own at all.

I like to have clear objectives to work towards and only then can I really plan ahead and achieve what I want to achieve - but I felt really confused today and quite helpless in that the objectives are not clear and are ever changing it would seem! This centre could do great things, and is doing so, but it could do even more if the English teachers work through their books well (so they can pass exams) and the speaking class really is a speaking class and is interactive and not too complicated. I have spoken to Anou (head of whole project) about it all, and she has very kindly said that what I have been doing is in fact good, and that there has been some confusion between all of us as to what exactly needs to be achieved from the speaking class. Hopefully by Monday it will all be sorted out and then I can really plan activities ahead that the children will really enjoy and hopefully it will help their English and build their confidence to use English - difficult task ahead.

In other news, had my first night out in India last night at some bar in Delhi - it was quite empty with a big dancefloor and cheap drink - music could have been better but was a good night. I went with my French room mate, Shamika (Anou's daughter), Nolwynn (family friend who is French but lives in Delhi) and a few of their friends - all very nice people and we had a good night. Must admit did not expect to be going out drinking when I came here!

That's all for Friday, shall update it after the weekend, where hopefully will manage to visit Delhi if it cools down - really need some rain as it is so hot and humid you cannot walk round for more than 10 minutes!

Love to all x