I speak English and I write in English,
surely that means I can teach English, right? Well, maybe.
I was excited when they told us we’d be
teaching English to Cambodians while in Kampong Cham. I’ve often
wondered how this was done when the teacher didn’t know the native
language, in this case Khmer (pronounced ki-my). Well, it
turns out we realized how much we didn’t know about our own language!
I mean we speak it all the time, but when it comes to explaining it
to someone who has an entirely different language and alphabet, it
proves a bit tricky.
Thankfully, we had some simple lesson
plans to follow, and the students were just excited to have Americans
there and to listen to us talk. We often had to be reminded to slow
down, and thankfully for the beginner classes we had a translator
available to explain things when needed. It was challenging but
really fun. The best was when I tried pronouncing their words in
Khmer and having them tell me what it was in English. They got a good
laugh at my failed Khmer pronunciations!
All in all, it was a good time. Our
contacts in Kampong Cham have been teaching English classes for
several months now. They are using the classes as a way to develop
relationships with the students and eventually tell them about
Christ. Also, it gives the students a great skill to help them get a
better job.
The last day we were there, we had aparty with our morning students. We played some silly games and
laughed a lot. Then we split into groups and each person on our team
went with a group so they could talk with us. They asked my age, what
I liked to eat, what I liked about Cambodia, etc. I was able to share
about our World Race experience – telling them we would visit 11
countries in 11 months. They asked why I was doing that, and I said,
“To share the love of Jesus!” Whether they all fully understood
that or not, they thought it sounded great. The most common question
was – “When will you be back to teach us again?” To that all I
could say is, “I don’t know, but maybe God will bring me back
someday.”
I wish we could have stayed longer in
Kampong Cham. With everyone taking off for the Khmer New Year, we
only had one week to teach English. We were finally getting the hang
of it by the time we had to leave. Still, it was a good experience
and at least a little break for the three ladies who have been
teaching all the classes.
We will continue to lift them up in
prayer as the work of God is just beginning in that place.
