Back to school!

Yesterday was not only back to school for Carlota after being ill, but I went to school too. Mónica had told her English teachers about me and they had invited me into class to talk to the children. The girls' school is now bilingual and has been for a few years. As Carlota was there before the change, she doesn't have anywhere near as many English lessons as her sister (2 a week compared with Mónica sometimes having 2 a day). I had met the auxiliar de ingles (English teaching assistant)  for Mónica's class last week - Tessa, a girl from South Carolina - so she met me at the main entrance and walked with me up to the classroom. Once I got there I met the another auxiliar, Ronan from Northern Ireland, and the children's English teacher, Elena, who had spent some time in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA.

I had two classes with Elena and two classes with another teacher, Sara, after the break. Each lesson started off with the children asking me questions. Elena also showed them where Manchester is on a map in relation to Spain, Northern Ireland and the USA. These are the questions I was most often asked:

"What is your name?" "Imogen... but call me Imi" (Spanish people really struggle with my name, some Americans I've met here have struggled too!)

"Where are you from?" "Manchester in England."
This was sometimes followed by "Manchester United or Manchester City?" Neither, I don't really like football.

"What are you doing in Spain?" In the first lesson, this was answered by Mónica very very quietly. She's like a completely different girl in class, so quiet and shy! The auxiliars  didn't believe me when I said she was the opposite at home. In the other classes I had to explain that I was an au pair living with Mónica and Carlota. Many of them knew the girls and a few told me things or asked questions about them.

"Do you like Spain?" "Yes"

"Have you been to Spain before?" "Yes. I have been to Barcelona twice and Segovia once but this is my first time in Madrid"

"How long will you be here?" "Until August, two months"

"Can you speak Spanish?" "Yes, I study Spanish, French and Chinese at university"

"Can you speak Spanish now?" "No, this is an English lesson"

"Ooo, Chinese. How do you say house? Can you write it?" (They sometimes wanted to know hello and goodbye as well and I ended up writing Chinese characters on the board!)

"What's your favourite colour?" "Purple"

"What is your favourite sport?" "Swimming, I am a swimming teacher"

"Do you like football?" "No"

"Do you like basketball?" "No really"

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" "I have two brothers"

Followed by "What are their names?" "Fraser and Ethan"
"How old are they?" "18 and 13"

There were plenty of other questions but you get the idea! After question time was story time. In the first class, one of the mums had come into to read to them. She had lived in the US between the ages of 5 and 10 and now works as a translator, translating Disney films amongst other things. Elena decided that as we had three English speakers (Tessa didn't count as she had a sore throat and barely any voice), we could tell the story together reading a page each. At the end of the story, she asked the kids whose accent was easiest to understand and they said Tessa's (even though she didn't speak) followed by Ronan's Northern Irish accent (really?!). This same lesson format was repeated for the next three classes, minus Nora's mum. I think I read "How to catch a star" three times! The children were really sweet though and fairly well behaved given that they were aged 7-8.

At break time I went to the staffroom and was treated to cake and coffee along with all the teachers and auxiliars. I got to speak Spanish with some of them so it wasn't a completely English morning.

If the children continue learning English at that rate, they will be so good! I was surprised that the whole lesson was conducted in English seeing as I don't think I had a lesson completely in a foreign language until at least AS level!