Does anyone who speaks English really know English grammar? I don’t know grammar, but why would I? I can speak English and that’s all I need! Well, yesterday and today Mike and I got a rude awakening…we need to learn English grammar.
The Inter Act school managers (Fernando and Rosa) met us at the Queretaro branch yesterday after our first teacher training. The training was led by one of the teachers and it was a lot of info about the style of conversational teaching utilized at Inter Act. We met a few of the other teachers and the branch manager, Chad. Mike and I got just a bit confused when the trainer touched on grammar, but I didn’t think too much about it.
For lunch Fernando and Rosa drove us to San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato. San Miguel de Allende is an older colonial type of Mexican city with lumpy, brick (I think), narrow streets that is partially built on a hill with a few ex-pats living there. It was the kind of Mexican city that you might imagine from a movie – very rustic and the driving was, of course, a little crazy. And it was nice to be out of the driver’s seat and let someone else think about the traffic!
Us with Fernando.
Fernando and Rosa.Back at the school we observed teachers teaching and met many of the students. While both the students and teachers were having fun, grammar was emphasized over and over. Gulp.
This morning we went back to the school for a 1.5 hour grammar training/refresher with all of the other teachers. It went pretty quickly as it was a review for those already teaching, but for us it was a bit overwhelming. Luckily, we’ll be able to bone up together and learn about modal verbs, passive voice, verb tenses like Past Present, Past Present Continuous, and all those other wacky things.
This afternoon Fernando and Rosa will lead us from Queretaro into DF. Fernando will drive our truck because he says it would be very challenging for me to maneuver the truck and trailer though the city. Inter Act provides our first month’s accommodation while we search for an apartment so we will be heading to a condo that Fernando and Rosa used to live in. And again it will be nice to be in the passenger seat….next post from MEXICO CITY!
9 comments:
I'm learning the same thing, except in Spanish: imperfecto, indefinido, pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo...Caramba!
Caramba indeed!
WooHoo!!!! The adventures is well under way I see! Good luck with the English grammar. I never officially learned grammar in English as I went to school in french, but my mother (Who was my principal at one point) was a fanatic about proper grammar, so if I didn't use proper grammar while speaking I was in big trouble!
Hey guys,
Im glad you all made it down to San Miguel De Allende. Mike, that is the place with the copper workings!
Hope all is well..
Good luck with the grammar, personally I still remember hating grammar class in school when I was a kid.
Sounds like things are going great for you.
One pretty good resource is the grammar girl podcast that is available on iTunes. A lot of Americans, including myself, aren't great at grammar. You're grammar on the blog looks great though.
Grammar, not so much!!! Girlie you will do fine, you are one of the smartest, sassiest women I know!!!!
Wow, your adventures are exciting, I have been thinking of you both often & envious of your courage!!! Kurt & I are gearing up for adventure on your shirt tails, inspiring my friends!!! hugs to you both, Jackie & Kurt
You might be interested in this fellows blog. He is also teaching english in D.F.. http://garydenness.co.uk/
Ha! Grammar! I can tell you a few things. Firstly, a fair few of your students during your first year will know more about English grammar rules than you do, so there is potential for a few embarrassing moments when the teacher gets taught! Learn a few quick and easy diversionary tactics to change the subject in emergencies. "I'll come back to that in a bit, but first I want to deal with this..." always worked well for me!
You do have an advantage though. You may not know the why's of the rules, but you do know what is correct and what isn't. Most of the time! So unlike your students, you can easily work it out! Lesson prep will be vital for the early months. Then you can start 'winging' it!
Aside from verb tenses (the Perfect tenses being the most confusing for most), make sure you read up on Conditionals, Active and Passive Voice, Modals, Questions words (what, who, why, when etc) and that you understand what a clause is!
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