Classes

Starting tomorrow things are going to get super busy for me so I wanted to update everyone before things get too crazy. 

This past weekend I went out with Fernando on Saturday night to a British English Culture Festival. We watched a dance performed and then Fernando drove me all around Sao Paulo to show me the different neighborhoods and all that the city has to offer. We stopped at a bar in a neighborhood called Moema and spent some time there enjoying the atmosphere.

On Sunday, Fernando introduced me to his American friend named Rachel who was born in Brazil but grew up in New Jersey, and is now back in Brazil studying dentistry. We tried going to 2 different movie theaters to see a movie, but it was absolutely packed at the malls (on a Sunday night, so strange to me). At the 2nd movie theater, there were no movies playing in English so we gave up and went for pizza which is always a good option!  

As for school this week, I taught 2 of Fernando's 7th grade English classes and 2 of the 8th grade English classes. They are much larger classes than I'm used to. The number of students in each class ranges from 25 to 40. There are many disadvantages to having such large classes, but a few benefits. One of the benefits would be that all the students are at very different English proficiency levels, so if some of them are completely lost in a lesson, other more advanced students can help them out. 

Also, the English conversation classes that I originally came down here to teach, begin tomorrow. Over 100 students and adults signed up...so many more than what was originally planned. There are 5 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and each are 1.5 hours long. The classes range from 2nd grade to adults. The adults will consist of parents and some teachers here that want to learn English. The biggest problem we will face is having different proficiency levels in each class. Some students will come with barely any English whereas others attend English Language Schools and have more advanced English skills. I've been teaching and observing classes today from 7am to 6:30pm so I have a long night ahead of me preparing for all the classes tomorrow!