Sleepless in Dushanbe

Week three is in swing.   I had my first conversation class with students at American Corners yesterday.  I chose a topic of general interest to me:  “What Would You Put Inside Your Time Capsule?”  But after completing my first one-hour session, I realized a few things:

1.     Do not judge an English student by their expression. When you are dealing with multiple levels of English, there is not an easy way to get everyone to speak.  Some kids will look bored while other students will look like they are in great pain.   I didn’t find any cure all for the multiple levels, but it helped to announce at the beginning that, “Everyone must speak.”  At least all students HAD to be patient when I called on quiet ones.

2.      When leading a Discussion Group, don’t talk too much.  In moments when no one had an opinion, I felt compelled to take over the discussion.  I did not have constructive ways to probe the students.  Part of this had to do with the question I was asking; since there is no wrong way to fill a time capsule, there is no reason to contradict or try something new.  The question of “What Would You Put Inside Your Time Capsule” did not stir a strong range of positive and negative emotions.   However, after asking the same question for 30 minutes and using many examples to ill, more and more students grasped the concept.  Many of the higher-level English speakers took time in small groups to explain the concept to those who didn’t understand.  But that explanation was in Russian/Tajik, which was perhaps defeating the purpose. 

3.     Manage numbers.  When leading a conversation club, I have to decide early what is possible and what isn’t.  For example, I could not have broken the large group into small groups if there was more than around 30 or 35.  I also could not do break out groups around the Corner if there had been other students sitting and working on the side tables.  I also could have had a topic where “everyone speaks” if we had been pushing 40.

4.     Have your classes (formal and informal) inform your Discussion Group.  I am starting to sense what is important to most of these students.  They spend a lot of time criticizing what is wrong in their city, and thinking of solutions.  They are also very interested in comparing Tajikistan to Russia and the US.  Although I want to pick a variety of topics, there is no shame in using these go-to topics as fire starters.