Langauge Bridges Graduation – Spring 2012

 Julie Zawadzki

Dr. Bob Monroe

Everyone is singing :D 

Picture of all the teachers! 

Natalie and her students

 Fawwaz, Syed and Ahmed and their students

 Aisha and Ahmad and their students

 Khalid and Raji and their students

 Prince and Abhay and their students

 Sama, Mohammed and Al-Hanouf and their students

 Devika, Vanessa and Tasnin and their students

Sakib and his students

 Noshin, Zainab and Noorulhuda and their students

 Amalan, Akhila and Sana and their students

Reham and Abaan and their students

First Experience as a Teacher

The language bridge program (LBP) has been an amazing journey for me. I first joined this program as I was getting credits for my history course. We attended two days of training by Prof. Silvia before meeting our students. One the first day, we were taken to the student’s accommodation in Pearl in a car arranged by UDC. It was fun as all of my friends were with me. We discussed how we are going to take the class with other teachers. The accommodation was very beautiful and their living conditions were also quite good. I took my first class with Amalan and Bharath. It was little awkward in the beginning as it was the very first time that any of us were teaching people who were elder than us. However, the students were also shy and not very interactive and participative as LPB was a first experience for most of them. We did not really get an opportunity to see the place completely but were assured that we would be taken on a tour the next time. Unfortunately, we were informed that the next classes will be taken in CMUQ. This decision, however, proved to be a good one as we could save our time that we spent on travelling and could use better technology provided in CMUQ. The students also got an opportunity to sit in our classrooms and experience a real college like life. The rest of the few classes went by well. However, then we realized that we are not doing enough justice to the students and should do something that they are really interested in. We asked them about their interests and they told us that they wanted to improve their speaking and grammar. We, thereby, went on to developing material that concentrated on grammar and tenses. Then unfortunately, the students did not turn up to class in week 4-5 as they had to go to some personal work. We felt as if something was missing as we had set a fixed amount of time for teaching. We resumed classes after that week and decided to do the maximum that we can in the remaining weeks. We got dinner for them on the last day of classes as we knew that they come for classes in their dinner time. The students were really happy and we were equally glad to be able to do something for them. We were also asked to teach them a song that we would all sing on the final graduation day. On the graduation day, all the students were really happy and dressed up. We gave away certificates and took group pictures. Then we sang the group song with all the other LBP classes and the students showed great enthusiasm as they waved their national flag. The program ended with a grand dinner and the students were really happy with it. We spoke to most of our students after dinner and they told us that they will surely come back to this program next year as it was a great experience for them. All in all, it was an amazing experience for me as this program helped me grow as an individual and realize how lucky we are with whatever we have. Also, I felt satisfied with the fact that I was able to make an impact in someone else’s life. I would definitely do this program whenever I get an opportunity as it provides a great means by which we can give something back to the society. I would like to thank everyone who gave us an opportunity to be a part of this program including Professor Silvia, Julie, Meshael, Fatima and Shivani.

Language Bridges : THE Unique Experience!

Language Bridges brought with it many wonderful experiences and has left us with the most amazing leadership experience. I never had an opportunity to tutor and obviously this program had to be a different experience. While travelling to the Laborers' Camp on the first day, I had prepared myself to face all the difficulties that might come up in the way and certainly assumed that it will be the most challenging experience in my first year. But surprisingly, the very first meeting with my first group of students proved me wrong. Me and my teaching partners (Noor and Noshin) were completely astonished to see their above average level of English speaking and their desire to acquire more knowledge.

This day, I not only discovered about the lifestyles and daily routines of migrant workers, but also I experienced the real and actual world. Being all occupied with my student life, I perhaps never noticed the outside world with so much depth as I did on that very first day. It was indeed a unique experience to teach in an environment that was so different. While introducing themselves, the workers shared with us about their backgrounds, their favorite hobbies and about their beloved families. I observed their emotional feelings for their families and children, hidden behind their broken sentences and doing so was the most beautiful part of that day. It gave me more insight about how we usually ignore many things in life while there are people who cherish even the smallest thing.

He is our student who answered the most no. of correct answers . We awarded him with a Snickers Chocolate.
You see- he is so Happy! 

We were provided with transport facility to reach the workers camp and all along the way, all the teachers were hyped with excitement- discussing our childhood games and translating them to English, how to talk in simple English and the biggest discussion was how to make them feel comfortable. Fortunately, our class even more excited and this level was noticed when we asked them for feedback, and they said: "When we play cricket, our time pass slow, but here, time going fast". and one of them suggested that we should even extend the timings. Our way of teaching through games and activities were appreciated by them and all this made us to bid Good-bye to our worries and all scary thoughts.

It was a new start now- it wasn't us going to the camps, it was them coming to the university! It wasn't much surprising to see their excitement, but what surprised us was that were all dressed up in a more formal way. We now had technology on our side, we used the projector and the white board to explain things and concepts more easily. Also, since our students weren't mere beginners, we had to focus more on preparing ourselves. Every Wednesday  evening, me Noor and Noshin used to meet at 5 and discuss about the teaching material and think of some interesting ways to teach them. Our students were so into learning that when we gave them break, they often said us that they don't want it.

And then finally came their graduation day- the 8 weeks program had come to an end. That day was the one  filled with mixed emotions. Though we were really happy when we handed over the certificates to our students and that we had successfully incorporated in them at least the basic communication skills, it was indeed a sad departure. But we tried our best to make this day even more wonderful for them. We taught them the "Wavin' Flag" song which they all sang after they were awarded with certificates.

Our students on graduation day with their certificates

It was amazing experience, where in I learned many things. I not only improved my leadership skills but also learned about the diverse lifestyles. This program, undoubtedly provided me more insight about culture and tradition and of course- how to cherish each and every thing in your life! I also realized that more than PSP points, what kept me engaged in this program was actually the feeling of self-satisfaction and sheer joy I got while serving to the community.  I look forward being a part of this program in the near future and to continue to serve my community in some way or the other.

Zainab Irshad Baqri
Business Administration '15
Carnegie Mellon Qatar

Reflection On The Program - Tasnin

I have had the opportunity to volunteer for the last several weeks. I had never really volunteered as a teacher before, so I knew that this was my opportunity to do some community service to help others with Language Bridge Program. I have found through the experience that I really like to volunteer, so in the near future I would love to volunteer again for those migrant workers who are really eager to learn English language. It was very interesting, because it actually made me feel like a better person for helping someone in the community.

On the first day of teaching, I went to the Labors Camp at Pearl Qatar with my teaching partners, Vanessa and Devika to meet with our students. I was really nervous thinking that my students are older than me and I have to teach them English language. However, we introduced ourselves to them and started to interact with them. We asked about their jobs, friends and family. They were really happy to share about their friends and family with us. Later on, we started playing some educational games to know about their weakness in English language. I was pretty surprised seeing that they were very good at speaking English and could communicate with us easily.

After the first week, our students used to come to CMU-Q in order to complete the rest of the course. Teaching at CMU-Q was quite easier then teaching in their camps as we could use the projector and other important stuffs in a classroom. We started teaching them grammar using materials provided by our Professor Silvia. The teaching materials were really helpful and the students were benefited by that. Sometimes, we used to give them breaks and show various videos on youtube. They were really friendly with us and used to share their feelings after working whole day long. The last day of class was really amazing as we taught them “Waving flag” song to sing on the Appreciation Party event. They were really happy thinking that they will get certificates after completing 8 weeks long course.

The Appreciation party was really special for them as well as for us too. The moment when we gave away the certificates to them was really amazing. It felt so awesome to see them receiving their certificates. All the teachers sang the song “Waving flag” to appreciate their 8 weeks long hard work.

Volunteering only betters a person. Now, I know from experiences that teachers really make a difference in people’s lives. Teaching is something that everyone should do, and the benefits are a great part too. I feel motivated to do activities and different events that have to do with people.  I am looking forward to teaching them again next semester.

- Tasnin Moon

A very proud teacher!

I absolutely loved reading all the posts on the blog!  So much reflection, so much sharing, so much growth, so much giving!  Thank you everyone for your excellent work!  You have really made an impact in people's lives and I hope you understand everything you gained as well.  I really hope some of you will continue to teach with Language Bridges in the future.  Doing it for a second, third, fourth time will be even more meaningful.  I leave you with the amazing video of our 2012 Language Bridges celebration!  The video tells the whole story.  It was indeed a very memorable moment and experience for all!

Language Bridges Celebration 2012

Aisha's Final Reflection

Participating in Language Bridges was by far the most enjoyable experience I’ve had at CMU-Q. Not only have I taught the learners some English, I’ve learnt a lot myself. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could lead a class or if I could actually transfer my knowledge to others. However, when I started seeing how much progress the students were making, I was more motivated to improve their English.

I think my group and I worked very well with our class. We’ve developed different teaching strategies, like dividing the class into groups and each teacher would work with a group of students, also adding humor to some of the activities , and in general making the class more interactive.

I believe that the peek of this experience was the graduation ceremony. The students were extremely excited and were taking a lot of pictures. A lot of them even told us that they wanted to send these pictures to their families. This shows us how much impact we all had on them and their lives. Before enrolling in Language Bridges, most of the students were too shy to speak English even though some of them, to an extent, were capable of doing so. However, at the end, when they went to receive their certificate in the graduation ceremony, their confidence level has significantly risen.

Personally, I have grown a lot from this experience. I never knew the transfer of knowledge could have that much influence on a person’s life. Therefore, this really encourages me to share the knowledge I have acquired and help others who are less fortunate. 

Aisha.

Brighter than the sun

My experience at Language Bridges was challenging in different ways, but nonetheless filled with achievements that go beyond the academic framework and well into the personal. The first challenge I have faced occurred even before the start of the program, as I had to obtain the approval and consent of my parents. Although it might appear otherwise, I come from an utterly traditional family, in which young women are not encouraged to spend extra-hours at university, especially during night time. My desire to teach linguistic tools to adult men was first perceived as an ambitious yet unrealistic vision.  After meeting with Professor Silvia and with a lot of conviction, my parents finally decided to give me the opportunity to engage myself for the first time in activities that had been so far excluded from my options.

The second challenge took place on a more inner scale. Standing in front of fifteen adult men with the goal of delivering knowledge was a very difficult task to do. Not because I am incompetent to doing so, but because I am a female inexperienced in life, which as opposed to the adult men I was teaching most of whom had wives and children. Fortunately, the mutual respect that links adult learners and university facilitators, the constructive guidance provided by Professor Silvia and the valuable readings included in the syllabus shaped a stronger confidence in my abilities. By the third week, I was able to stand in class and lead activities without any hesitation or fear.

During the period of eight weeks, I have been organizing cognitive activities, such as vocabulary learning, dialogues and resume writing. All aimed to enrich adult learners’ linguistic skills and general skills in their professional life. I have manipulated class activities to what would best suite the lives of my learners, and enhanced their motivation and interest in English language through songs and games. As a facilitator, my ultimate goal has been to help the learners find a way to acquire knowledge independently vis-à-vis the teacher. Because I hold the view, like many other scholars, that self-directed learning encourages learners to gain confidence in themselves and in their abilities of acquiring knowledge on their own: “learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn” (Drucker, 1974).

As it has been implicitly stated in the above sections, this program was beneficial not only for the migrant adult learners, but mostly for me, as a facilitator and a university student as I had the opportunity to develop my qualities and my potentials in being an effective mentor, and hopefully a good mother in the near future.

I have always shared a certain compassion for the migrant workers I see in my daily life (nannies, cleaners, guardians, drivers, gardeners, etc.). Yet, I have never really had the courage nor aspiration to approach any of them, and have a tête-à-tête with them without having any feeling of authority, pity or guilt. Language Bridges has made me appreciate my maturity, and – on a different scale – it has made me appreciate Carnegie Mellon’s staff and students, and all those who contributed in Language Bridges and made it a successful program, including Silvia, Julie, Amal, Mashael, Fatima, Shivani, Houssain, Feras (Marketing), Prince, Abhay, and many others.

A Memorable 8 Weeks

This was my first time volunteering as a tutor for the Language Bridges Program and I must say, it is one of those decisions that I will never regret! Since the 3rd grade, I have had a soft-spot for teaching. Add to that the fact that English is a subject I am good at and I enjoy immensely, and you can imagine why Language Bridges was a great experience for me. Yes, there were some times when we would get stressed out trying to juggle our coursework while tending to the lesson plans for that week's class, printing all the required material and planning out what we would teach that day but the satisfaction at the end of each class and the smiles on the students' faces made it all worth it. 

I still remember the first day of Language Bridges as if it was only yesterday. The anticipation as we drove to the labor camps at The Pearl had filled us with adrenaline even at the end of a long and tiresome day. A million questions were flying around the car - "They're older than us, wont it be embarrassing?", "What if they call us Ma'am?!", "What if we don't do a good job?" Now it seems funny that these things would even cross our minds! 

The first day of classes at the labor camps.

Even though there were several difficult, frustrating moments, the memorable moments made up for them all. When we finally succeeded in teaching the Simple Present Tense to our students, when we taught them the lyrics to "Waving Flag" and had them sing it on their own, when we played entertaining games like "7 Up" and "Hangman" and saw the joy on their faces - these were the times that made the difficult obstacles seem even more trivial than we thought they were at first. Most importantly, watching our students hard at work doing the activities we assigned them and completing the quizzes we set for them gave us an immense feeling of pride and accomplishment.

Students hard at work finishing up Present Tense practice exercises

At the end of the 8 weeks, at the LBP Recognition Night, I can undoubtedly say that I was very proud of each and every student who received a Graduation Certificate. Learning a new language is almost as difficult as teaching it and I am glad that most of our students persevered, stayed motivated till the very end and worked hard to take away as much as they could from the Language Bridges Program.

To students considering volunteering in the next session of Language Bridges, I would highly recommend you go for it. It is a great learning experience because it puts you in your teachers' shoes and makes you appreciate them a whole lot more. Apart from that, the satisfaction of teaching English to people who do not have the privilege of knowing the language as well as you do is something that will stay with you for a long time to come.

Vanessa, Tasnin and Devika

Last Class and Celebration

Our last class of Language Bridges was a perfect end to a wonderful program. During our last class we decided to sit in a circle and talk about what we had learned from Language Bridges, what the learners liked and would like to see changed in the program. The only things that the learners would have liked to see different in the program was more frequent classes and an advanced class which they could sign up for next time. Other than that, the learners loved the program and were really happy that they had joined the program and were able to be a part of an experience from which they had benefited greatly. It was really nice sitting in the circle with our learners and making jokes with them and talking about whatever came to mind; it felt like we had all become friends, and that it was just another day hanging out with them. It was sad to know that it was the last class that we would see the learners but at least we had the celebration to look forward to. When it comes to the celebration, I think it was amazing. All the learners were so excited to receive their certificates which I feel they have all earned and really deserve. It is not easy to learn a new language and I feel that the learners did an amazing job for the quick 8 week program. Singing Wavin' Flag as a group was really cool, it was nice to see all the practice pay off, when all the learners started to sing and wave their nations flags. I could really feel the enthusiasm in the room and the pride which the learners had. Overall, I think that the Language Bridges program is incredible and I would love to see it continue for years to come and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested. 

Week 8 - Our Last Class

Before we knew it, we were already on our last class of the program last Wednesday, the 11th of April. Our learners arrived, enthusiastic as always, but since it was the last 2 hours that we would get to spend with them, Abaan and I decided to do something different.

We began by going onto the Language Bridges Facebook page where we showed them photos and videos of our class as well as the others. We also showed them last year's Celebration ceremony and walked them through the plan for the evening. Everyone was really excited and said they were looking forward to Sunday. We also played Waving Flag one last time to let everyone practice and be ready for Sunday.

We gave them a 30 minutes test, which most of them managed to finish, and once this was done we formed a big circle and decided to talk to each other about anything and everything. We talked about Qatar, about their families, about their girlfriends and wives, and finally about Language Bridges - what they liked, what they didn't like, and any improvements we could implement for the next semester. During the last 20 minutes, we played Hangman and our learners took turns going up. This turned out to be a lot of fun - we laughed, joked, and teased each other.

At the end of class before walking them out to the parking lot, I thanked everyone for the opportunity they had given me in Language Bridges. As my first teaching experience, the past 8 weeks taught me a lot about myself - what I am capable of and what I can improve on. My learners taught me a lot, and changed the way I view my university career in a positive way. It was sad to say goodbye, but we had Sunday and the celebration to look forward to!

~ Reham

My experience with the Language Bridges.

Language Bridges has come to an end! I can't believe the 8 weeks passed so fast, it seems like yesterday that we were on our way to the first class to meet our new students. This experience has been absolutely amazing, I feel that I have learnt as much out of this as the students have. Being able to teach people a new skill that will help them with future goals is such a rewarding thing to do. Since the students are all workers that provide the daily necessary services for us and our country, it feels good to be able to give back to them and the community. Although the things that we were teaching the students may have been simple, I truly believe that they have improved, and their level has become better that it has before. I believe the students are now more confidents to communicate with others in english, and ask for help when its needed. The process of sharing your knowledge with people who are willing to and want to learn it is something that I had never experienced before, but it feels very satisfying to do so. The Language Bridges program not only improved workers language skills, it also helped them get over cultural barriers, and become more sociable, and in a way has helped me to the same thing too. Language Bridges is a wonderful program that aims to do something good for the community, and help make it a better place. I hope that I am able to teach and be a part of this program again in the future.

-Sara

A Journey's end.

Its me again. I write this today, reflecting on what has happened in the last eight weeks since the beginning. I mean I can't believe it is already over. eight weeks, EIGHT! It has gone by too fast. I mean I actually genuinely hope that I will be able to meet these students again. Whether it be as teacher student, or as friend. I mean I feel I know them better because of this AMAZING opportunity. I also am in awe every time I remember one of them telling me 'thank you for teaching me english'. In truth it is only me who can thank them for wanting to learn English. Yet I feel that I have not given them enough. Even with all the strains and difficulties I faced, I remained in awe at their enthusiasm every week, something which I have not been able to achieve even with all the great education I am receiving. I truly feel I have grown as a person because of this experience and I encourage ANYONE, pessimist or optimist to take part, because it will truly make you a better person. In conclusion all I can say is this: THANK YOU STUDENTS, TRULY THANK YOU. YOU have made ME a better and more educated person.

Worth It: Looking Back on Language Bridges

There were many times throughout Language Bridges that I had to remind myself that the joy of teaching and helping others really is worth a few bumps in the road. From my class being scheduled at a time I did not anticipate, to often having a new group of learners, to coming in the morning and finding no one had shown up, Language Bridges certainly presented a plethora of challenges. But looking back, I really do not mind all of the little "glitches" that happened along the way. By the end of it all, I can say that my class of learners improved their English and their confidence. That was the goal, so I celebrate their achievement!

My learners and I had a really unique sort of bond which we formed after the first class I taught alone. I think both they and I were surprised that I was not intimidated by a classroom full of adult men, and my comfort teaching them led to a comfortable atmosphere in the classroom from that point onward. My learners were not afraid to talk to me during class or afterward, and I was happy to walk and chat with them on the way to the bus.

What I appreciated most about my learners was the diversity of fields and backgrounds they came from. Between 8 or 9 learners, they represented 3 different countries and 6 different jobs at CDC! This made lesson planning a challenge at first, as I could not rely on vocation-specific English vocabulary, but in the end it made class more productive and more fun. The learners were good at working together to teach each other vocabulary, based on the words they learned from their everyday work situations. The increased interaction was natural, and I loved seeing the students work together without me forcing them to do so. The best activities we did always involved teamwork; learners loved brainstorming words together and teaching each other!

The Language Bridges celebration was the perfect end to this wonderful semester of teaching English. Some of my learners did not think they could make it to the celebration, which made it even more of a joy to see every single person show up! I do not know how important this experience was to each individual in my class; I can imagine that they at least enjoyed it and left with a renewed sense of pride and greater confidence in themselves. But I can say that the celebration did teach me just how important Language Bridges was in my experience here at CMU Qatar. I got an opportunity to interact with so many wonderful people in the program and learn about their lives and dreams. Just a year ago (even six months ago) I could not even imagine myself coming to Qatar, and now I find all of these wonderful experiences to be mundane! It has certainly been a blessing, even though I often forget it is!

I wish the best to the Language Bridges program in the future, and I will be bragging about it to everyone in Pittsburgh!

~Natalie

Another Great Year With Language Bridges Program

This year was yet another enlightening experience in understanding and interacting with migrant workers through the medium of teaching English. My skills as a teacher had been honed from my previous experiences and I was all set for another great year. Overall the experience has been fulfilling not only in the sense that I have been able to contribute back to the community of Qatar, but also enhancing my own personal development. The majority of Qatar's population consists of migrant workers, Qatar is at the peak of its economic growth thanks to these individuals. If anything, they deserve our utmost respect and attention for all of Qatar's glory.

I had first learnt about this program last year through Professor Silvia who was my English Professor. Back then it was a daunting aspect. Teaching children was one thing but I kept questioning myself as to how would I teach adults? How would they respond to the fact that a young teenager like me was teaching them? How would they view me as a person? How much English did they know? Would I be able to get through to them? These and many other questions had filled my mind.

However all was put to rest when my first class began with them. It was held in their mess hall where the workers would come to have their breakfast, lunch etc. The students were eager and nervous at the same time, just like me. It was awkward but me and my colleagues managed to get through to them really well. One big advantage which we all had was the fact that we had a common native language which was a mix of Hindi and Urdu. This was our starting point in really communicating with them and letting them know about our purpose. Once that was clear, we actually spent 2-3 weeks just trying to create a rapport with the students and getting to know them. We felt that jumping right into the material would not make sense as we really did not know how to approach them. After we established a relationship with them, we moved on to the material.

The material in itself was well designed by Professor Silvia, but we felt that we had to adapt to our students' needs. In general most of the students were at the same level so adapting to their needs was pretty straightforward. With that in mind the remaining weeks went by and it was great to see the students graduate at the end of the program with utmost satisfaction.

I was eager to return to the program this year as last year's experience had been so positive. In the previous semester I had taken a course with Professor Silvia's husband, Professor Erik, but that time the focus was on teaching children. However my general skills as a teacher had been refreshed so I was really confident in getting back into the routine.

Me and my colleagues went to the same camp as before. We were going to be teaching in the same mess hall. I felt nostalgic to say the least and I was eager to get back to teaching. When we went there it was a complete new set of students. The number of students which we had was also significantly more than last year. It was good to see a familiar face join us again for the course. I felt a bit nervous as the class overall was quite large. Nonetheless we got into the usual mode. This time they understood us pretty well so we started off with a test to determine at what level the students were.

What we found was that there was a huge discrepancy between the students. Some students were really advanced whereas others were just beginners. Me and my colleagues took this as a challenge and decided to find a solution to this issue in the most effective way. We ended up deciding to split up in order to teach two different groups. We would rotate each week and maintain consistency with the material.

However before our plan could be put into place, a number of issues took place. The companies claimed that they had no written agreement with the program so they would not be held liable for any issues regarding the teachers. Furthermore one of the teaching groups lost their class. We got delayed by 1 week and also we had to allocate some of our students to the other group. For a moment it seemed like the program was at an end.

But because of the efforts of Professor Silvia and Julie Zawadski (Language Bridges Program Coordinator), the students were brought to CMU to be taught here. I felt humbled and also excited to have the workers here. In essence what I felt that they were getting to not only just see the buildings which they have been contributing to make for so many years, but also now studying in them. They could have a glimpse of how their efforts have bore fruit. Furthermore we had all of CMU's resources at our disposal so it was a completely different experience. We could improvise a lot more and also bring a completely different feeling to the teaching experience.

The workers were really happy to be at CMU and the remaining weeks were a joy ride for us all. We took them through the material at the pace which they could handle. As we moved along, we continued to build relationships and learn more about each other. It was just amazing to see them all graduate at the end and see them so happy with their achievements.

After this experience my respect for these workers has grown and continues to grow. These individuals have families back home who rely on them to serve their needs. Its is indeed a life of hardship and they work for it. English has become a universal language and there is no doubt that it plays a major role in all sorts of communication. Providing these workers with such a platform really provides them with a fulfilling experience. I wish and hope that in the future Language Bridges Program will continue to expand, mature and move even further across Qatar as a whole and perhaps one day become a fully fledged system in which people from all sorts of places can contribute. This has truly been a life changing experience for me and I hope in the future I will continue to serve my community in such a manner.

My Experience at Language Bridges Qatar

The experience at Language Bridges for me has been very enriching. I have taught several times before and I believed that I had a lot of experience with teaching prior to this. However, I later realized that my experience had always been with teaching kids, which was an entirely different domain. Teaching adults was obviously more challenging since I had to improvise a lot more. It was important to know what kind of material they enjoyed and it was really important to not over-simplify certain aspects. After this experience, I certainly feel much more content and I also feel confident about talking to people from different cultures with totally different backgrounds.

Before teaching at Language Bridges, I never really considered how migrant workers lived and worked in Qatar. They were always the “part of the landscape” in Qatar. The huge number of workers in Qatar probably is the main reason as to why I had this kind of a conception. I always respected them for the outstanding work that they did in the heat of Qatar, but I never really talked to any worker for a period of 8 weeks before this. After this experience, I think my respect for them has increased a lot. During the teaching period, I learnt a lot about their lives and their problems due to which they have come to work abroad. Seeing the fact that they have come to class after/before working a shift of 12 hours is really encouraging for us teachers. I personally found their quest for knowledge so amazing. Most of the students came to all classes without fail and contributed really well to all in-class activities and discussions.

From the experience of teaching adults, I feel that I’ve become more confident to teach. Usually, when I used to teach kids, it was more game based and videos. This was the first time that I was actually leading class discussions for an hour or two at times and teaching new material non-stop. I think this kind of experience with facilitating discussions and moderating class is really important in terms of leadership. Dialog is very important to have and managing dialog peacefully is a vital skill to possess in today’s world.

As a long-time resident of Qatar, I actually feel a lot more satisfied after this experience. I’ve seen Qatar grow in front of my eyes all these years and I’m glad that I could help the people who essentially build this country and the great structures that we have here. Although in a small way, I think the knowledge that I’ve shared with them will definitely help them in the long run and they will definitely enjoy recalling the fun times that we had in class. At the beginning of this program, I think I was a very stern and rigid teacher, who would just stick to the lessons planned and try to execute it. However, in our class discussions, all the other student teachers suggested that it was important to get quality information across and that quantity was not really important. I really am glad I could hear from other student learners. From then on, I prepared shorter lesson plans but focused more on the learning part. I wanted them to have fun and remember them instead of just bombarding the students with information. What I had in mind earlier was the “Banking Concept of Education”, in which the teacher deposits information onto the students. After our discussion of the class readings, I later realized that this was the wrong approach. I started involving them in our classes more often and focused more on their class participation. I ensured that each student spoke at least once or twice during the class. Since the number of students was manageable, almost everyone had the chance to speak during class.

The learners themselves really enjoyed their time with us and were so thankful of our efforts. On the last day, each one came to us and thanked us, which was really nice of them. I would totally recommend this to some of my close friends. It not only gives you a sense of satisfaction about returning to the community but it also teaches you about yourself. I think one can use this platform as a self-assessment of one’s teaching skills, patience, harmony, and teamwork.   

Letter Writing for the Last Class

I was so glad to see so many students for this last class- 9 people came, including one new learner! As an evaluation of their progress, I planned to have each learner write a letter. We started, however, with a review of last week's emotion words. We used music last week to define the emotion words, so I played the songs again and we reviewed the words "happy", "sad", "angry", "afraid", "calm", and "excited". The learners did very well at remembering, and it got us excited for our first step in writing letters!

In order to write a long letter, we needed to remember some words! All of the learners took a marker, and we wrote all of the words we learned over the past few weeks. We learned family words like "mother" and "son", many verbs like "drink" and "listen", and just as many nouns to use with these verbs. The learners wrote so many words, we ran out of space on the board! Their accomplishment in the course was so evident as you read all of the words they have learned.

Next, I read a sample letter to give them an idea of the structure of the letter. We also used it as a listening exercise, as they needed to listen closely to remember details from the sample letter. They struggled with the listening exercise, so I re-read portions of the letter throughout the class to get them used to hearing something read in English.

But it was time to get started with the letters! We learned how to start a letter ("Dear...") and we then wrote about ourselves, our families, and events in our lives. The learners were very good at using the words that surrounded them on the white boards; it was great to point them to vocabulary that we both know that they know! Some wrote multiple pages, using almost every word we'd learned. I was so proud of their final accomplishment: tangible proof of their progress in English!

The best part was the final task of letter delivery. We decided to write our letters to Silvia, so each learner pushed their letter underneath her office door! They were happy to see their letter going to a real person, and I hope she got to read them all!

I am so sad to leave this class; I wish we had more time to get to know our learners and teach them even more! I really hope they continue in the program next year!

~Natalie

Week 8.

The last Class !

A lot of the students were really down as they knew that this was going to be the last class for us together. We started the class with a revision for some of the previous lessons, answered any doubts that they had before we gave them the exam, and gave them the survey to complete about the class. The exam was relatively easy, it was six pages long, and had questions in the same format as the examples we had been doing with them in class. We gave them one hour to complete the test. As some students finished early, we let them out for a break while we stayed in the class to watch the rest of the students and correct their papers at the same time. We were able to grade all the papers and give them back to the students by the end of the class. The students didn't do as well as I hoped they would, as they apparently didn't understand the questions. They were probably too shy to ask for help, even though we encourage them to ask questions in case they don't understand anything. 

In the second part of the class, after we had given the students a break, we gave back the papers, and rehearsed the song with them. Most of the students were excited and had actually learnt some of the lyrics of the song. Later we asked each student to let us take a short video of them saying something about the classes and what they had learnt. Although they were a bit shy at the beginning, they all came around to doing it after a couple had volunteered to do it for us. (No pictures from this class because my camera was going to run out of charge :(, and the videos take a very long time to upload! )

This last class came with a sense of sadness and accomplishment at the same time. This has been a wonderful experience for us and for the students, and we hope to see them all again sometime soon.

Sara, Amna, & Sakib.

WEEK 7 !!!!

The class was very fun, for us and for the students. We first helped them with the problems they were having with the homework we assigned last week. We think the workers are still a bit shy to tell us when they don't fully understand what we're saying! We went over the past material with them again, and helped them with forming questions, which I was surprised they were having trouble with since they've done this many times before!

After that, we taught them how to speak about things they are going to do in the future, and got them talking about things they did in the past and things they are going to do in the future. We also played the lying game with them, which they quite enjoyed too. After that, we told them about the song that they would have to learn for the ceremony on the 15th of April. We put the song on for them to hear, and filmed them while they all sang along to it!! 

Since we figured that we'd finish class early this week, me and Amna stopped by the supermarket to get them some snacks, and also picked up some other food on the way. The workers were excited to sit on the couches in the CMU Food court and eat while looking around at the place. We then took them on a small tour of the building, which they really liked. They took so many pictures (as you can see below), and some gave me their e-mails so I can send the pictures to them. 

Finally, we explained to them that the should try to complete the activities in all their booklets as practice for the exam that they are going to take next week.

I think overall this was a very fun and productive class, that both myself and the students enjoyed.