Month One as an English Language Assistant from USA

Hello!

My name is Liz Shah, and I'm one of the new English Language Assistants here at Colegio Los Olivos. It's been quite the exciting month here in Málaga, and it's hard to believe that I'm going on week six of being in Spain. Some days feel incredibly slow, and sometimes it feels as though I've hardly blinked and the day is over. Certainly, the most exciting part is being a teacher at the school. The kids made each day an exciting challenge.

One of the surprising parts of teaching here is that many of the students actually already have a decent basis for English! The students have good foundations built on a strong vocabulary. However, because many of the teachers at the school learned English at a British institution or in another European, English-speaking country, my American accent was difficult to understand at first for most of the students. I am learning to over-annunciate my words and speak more slowly. My family has already noticed and joked about how I talk to them much more clearly on the phone.

Overall, I've already been impressed with how much more the kids are talking to me in English. It's been fun to have various students run into me during the day and hug me while shouting, "hello teacher Liz!" I am so excited to see how much the students grow and learn throughout the school year.

Signed
"Teacher Liz"