It’s amazing how much English I am being taught in my time of teaching English. Ironic, huh? The language I should be well versed in is being taught to me BY the students! I have had plenty of “Karate Kid”� moments, if you will. (The teacher becomes the student)
For example, this last week, my team and I were at SALEA (Salt and Light English School) teaching English. This is not only an English school but also a Christian establishment where biblical matters are discussed daily.
Idioms
Remember those phrases that some yahoo made up, which do NOT make a whole lot of sense but we say them anyway?
I will grace you with some we used…..
~ Drink like a fish
~ Til’ the cows come home
~ In the buff
~ Use your loaf
It wasn’t until I was playing a game with 5 girls, ages ranging from 13-34, that I realized how many idioms I do NOT know. Here’s how the game worked, I had a pile of idioms cut up into individuals pieces lying face down on a desk. I had one minute to describe as many idioms as I could, and the girls needed to understand which idioms I was describing and then guess which one I was referring to.
This was a humbling game seeing their plethora of idioms was far wider than mine could ever be. It wasn’t until I drew one particular idiom that my innocent (ha!) little brain was scarred for eternity.
Peeping Tom
As I drew this card, I stared at it looking deep into the words trying to come up with a meaning. I squinted my eyes in hopes it would help my brain know something I have never heard of.
As I peered over at a student’s book, I grazed the pages for the meaning of this unknown idiom. I was so curious who this Tom was and why he was peeping. My eyes locked on the meaning…
I suddenly became uncurious about who this peeping pervert was and his motives.
The girls in my group thought it was a comedy act along with the teacher as they saw my eyes widen in disbelief. The laughter was contagious and so life-giving. As I took it upon myself to kiddingly interrogate the teacher about her lesson plans, I caught myself thinking about a verse in Proverbs.
Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.
Whoever said ministry had to be “work”� or something that wasn’t fun. This month I have walked into SALEA with a passion to build relationships, to share about God and how He is changing the posture of my heart, and to genuinely have a FUN time! I was unaware that my naivety would be so comical, but I thanked God for that moment!
