English Exams

Students waiting to be called in for their exam

It’s that time again!  Our English classes are finishing and it’s time to give exams.  All our exams are oral, so the whole team helps out to administer them.  Now normally, things would be a bit more staggered, but because of the religious month of fasting (which will begin this coming week) all of us are finishing our English classes around the same time.  Which means we are racking up a lot of exam hours.

Now most of our students do very well, but that doesn’t mean we don’t hear some memorable responses.  Here’s some recent highlights.

• “I am three children”  (talking about his family.)
• “My birthday is April, twenty-tooth.”  (so close…)
• “I was born in 1885.” (again so close)
• “I like to eat my children.” (I think he meant “see”)
• “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13…” (Um, what happened to 6-10???)
• “My husband is a policewoman.” (We have a lot of gender confusion in our classes.)
• "He is wearing a blue skirt and red pant." (I think he meant shirt.)
• “In my house there is a dining room, bathroom and chicken.”  (This may be true, but I think she meant “kitchen”.)
• Teacher: “What do you like to do?” Student, excitedly “Pizza!”
• Teacher: “What time is it?” Student: “3 a quarter to 15.” (I guess we need to review telling time some more.)
• "No, I don’t not from…not Kenya."  (We’ll at least they used the negative.)
• Teacher: "Touch your back."  Student: rises out of chair, turns around and puts his hand on his butt.

Oral exams in progress

Every oral exam is different.  The majority of our students have learned the material well and respond without much trouble. These exams go really quickly, and some students struggle.  Sometimes they know the material but you can see they are so nervous that they are clamming up.  Others think they know the material but clearly haven’t studied.  They get about halfway through the exam and start to flounder.  Then every so often someone shows up to take the exam who only showed up for half the classes.  These are always painful.  Blank stares, mumbled answers, and lots of silence.  We move through the questions, wanting to put them out of their misery as soon as possible.

As language learners ourselves giving exams is a good reminder to us. Learning a language is hard work and at the beginning you say laughable things all the time. By now we don’t say laughable things ALL the time but hopefully we’ve haven’t lost the ability to laugh at ourselves when we do.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Exams are going well, only a handful left to do. We’ve jumped back into life and had a chance to share some of our conference reflections with the team. Here on the island, each week seems to bring an encouraging story of our new sisters sharing what they are learning with others, of others becoming interested and studying themselves. We are greatly encouraged by  these developments.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
We are hosting a big picnic for all our English Class administrators and their families tomorrow.  Pray that this would be a good time, go well and be a chance to deepen relationships with our island friends.  One teammate will be the leaving the island this coming week, pray that the logistics would come together for her travel.   The month of fasting begins next week.  This is a time of difficulty and grumbling, but also a time of feasting and fun, and for many it is a time of spiritual seeking.  Pray that we would be ready, with good answers and If you would like to pray with us during this coming month we’d be happy to send you our annual “month of fasting prayer guide.”  Just send us an email.