Teaching English

Teaching English

In 2000, while on holiday for Songkran, I went with my girlfriend to her home village in Chaiyaphum

It was a very small farmers village with old wooden houses and very little comfort.
No kitchen, no bathroom (people took a shower outside near the water collecting earthen tanks), electricity was generated on limited hours by a diesel generator at the house of the head of the village, etc.
The village counted about 50 inhabitants and everybody helped each other as much as they could.
The head of the village owned the only car (pickup).

There was also a very modest Buddhist temple which served as the local school.
The children were taught basic knowledge from 9 am to 12 pm by the monks and were required to clean the temple and the surroundings in the afternoon.

Each farmer had been given a little piece of farmland (rice field) and a few chickens to provide for their daily life according to the "self sufficiency plan" from King Bhumipol.

When I arrived at the village, it was as aliens of other space were visiting the village.
Everybody wanted to see the "Foreigner" and asked some questions about life in my country.

The next day, in the afternoon, some children came to visit me with their "notebook" and asked me to teach them "English".
The monks were not able to teach English, and this was not their task.
I agreed and started to teach them some English words for every day use.
It striked me with how much enthusiasm they were learning the English language.
Some parents came to visit me with gifts as a "Thank you" for teaching their children.

Mostly food and drinks like they used to give to the monks or tie a string around my wrist.

After 5 days, before leaving the village, the head of the village came to me and asked me if I was willing to become a full time teacher in the village. They had not much money and paying a full salary was out of the question, but they could provide me with housing and food.
I told him that I was contracted by a company to do a job and I could not leave that job now, but I would consider the offer after finishing my contract.

I told the children to keep studying and I would return when the next holiday.

About 1 year later, I received a letter from one of my students.
She was moving to Bangkok.

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