Unforgettable Asians

The Asian flavour that daily permeates my class!

Young, intelligent and gifted * study orientated * results focused

disciplined to learn * dedicated to work * driven to succeed

Respectful * gracious * obedient * hilarious * funloving

well mannered * kindhearted * high moral values

Welcome to the world of my Asian students!!

They come from the Asian corners of the world and arrive here wanting to learn English. They bring with them the Asian persuasion - a unique look at the mind, character, behaviour and culture of their respective countries. And for the last 11 years, it has been my privilege, honour and pleasure to be a teacher to some of the finest young people that I have ever met.

Asian Blossom

They arrive in school like a closed flower -extremely shy, fearful, disorientated until they get into my class. It is my responsibility to open them up so that they can become receptive to my teachings. My classroom is like a garden, I'm the gardener who waters, feeds and nurtures the flowers who are my students. By the time they leave my class, all of them have blossomed in character, relationships and level of English. As well as, they form friendships that last forever, and deepen their knowledge and experience in their personal growth as human beings.
Asian flowers - Asian blossoms - When that happens, they fill my class with uniqueness!



My classroom is a place of fun! fun! and more fun!

The technical complexities of teaching English is far more enjoyable to students if the classroom environment is friendly and I have built mine on respect, acceptance, kindness, a certain amount of trust and a good dose of fun! fun! fun!! For a moment of their lives they are with me, however long, however short, I count every minute precious and constantly strive to be the best teacher I can be and to give the best lessons I can for them. They are lovely people and so dedicated in their work. I admire them and the sacrifices they have made. As they are dedicated, I am dedicated to helping them achieve their goals.



My fish and chip parties in my class!

Food! Food! Food! It's Kiwi and asian all mixed together right here in my classroom. English lessons as they should be. Lesson one, eat and be happy. Nothing fills the mind, spirit, soul, body and stomach like food. Nothing is more pleasing and joyous than food. A million English lessons can never bring out language like food does. Nothing can break down cultural barriers better, nothing can bond teacher and students better than food. The social atmosphere it creates is like a family christmas party where everyone is talking, laughing and having a lot of fun. My parties have been a big success, one that the students absolutely love and look forward to. I hold these parties when students leave either to work or holiday in NZ; or return to their country, which can often be a weekly or monthly thing. In my culture, farewelling someone is a very important occasion equally as important as welcoming them. For that whole week I make that person feel special and treat them in class with simple privileges like getting the class to sing his/her favourite song, or get them to choose the next person who is going to speak. This culminates in their farewell party which is held in their honour. After we have eaten, I follow a very simple Maori custom: everyone must speak and everyone must sing, no exceptions. I start by giving a farewell speech to the person leaving, in which I give positive praise, something funny and encouragement to continue studying. The students then give their speeches and then the leaving person answers back with their speech. After that, each nationality must sing a song from their country. The whole party from beginning to end can often end up being a very moving occasion for all the students. It often is a highlight for them. My students just love their fish and chip parties!! And so do I!!



Yummy! Yummy! Yummy! I got food in my Tummy! That day, we ate, sang, talked and laughed.




The beautiful smiles of of these beautiful people. Asian blossoms!




Classroom lessons

This is another one of my lessons. By the look of their hand movements, I think I was teaching them Hip Hop. Maybe I was trying to bring a bit of rhythm to the lessons. Hip Hop in the house!
The two guys on the right were awesome Saudi students. They were so intelligent. I think I tried to convince them that as their teacher I should be given cheaper petrol. They listened respectfully with great big Saudi smiles, which is a polite Saudi way to say no.


Two little flowers from Thailand.

I love their smiles!!! All of them are like this: smile, smile, smile!!




Another farewell party. More food, more talking, more singing, more happy people and more food. God I just love this job.



Have you ever seen Asians trying to look Hip Hop badd? They just can't do it! Even their badd looks beautiful. They were born to smile, yeah!







Teaching Asians

I believe the best way to teach English to Asians is to: be yourself and nobody else.
I function better when I'm exactly who I am and no less. My students connect better to my lessons by connecting in a small way to me. I become their educator, inspirator, leader, advisor, sometimes confidante and trusted figure. I am then in the prime position to direct and develop their English learning. To make head way in that direction, I offer them who I am in order to teach what they need. If my character is floored, then their learning will be floored. They benefit when I show the best parts of my character that serves to enrich and transform their learning experience into one that shows progress. They all start in my class with a clean slate and are unique individuals with differing personalities. I offer them acceptance, understanding, empathy, kindness, encouragement and correction - all delivered with a sensitive appropriateness and honesty. The result is, the Asians blossom under this kind of tutelage.




Oh my god! more food!

Another farewell party. More food, more eating. more talking, more singing, more happy people and more food!!


I hope you don't think all we do is eat food all day in class! (I wish.)
Food, people and English always go together.

The Saudi boys

The Saudi boys. No, I mean the one on the left and right. The one in the middle looks like one too, doesn't he? Mind you, the one on the left and right look like Maoris, don't you think. Anyway, as I was saying, the Saudi boys, great guys, very cool, I love teaching them. We seem to connect on a more spiritual level, a kind of similar skin colour recognition that there are some similarities that connect us in a distant sense, a kind of shared racial connection. In that sense, both the Maori and Saudi societies have strong father figure cultures where the older men are highly respected. I certanly felt a sense of that from the Saudi boys.


The Asian Haka!!

Asians performing the Maori haka: Kamate! Kamate!


I taught them this ancient haka which is a war dance that is performed by Maori warriors. They practiced it and we had a lot of fun as I put them throught the rigorous training of perfecting the actions with all the fierceness and strength that is expected from anyone who does the haka.


Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Traditionally, the haka is suppose to terrify your enemies. This never eventuated with this group, the whole school basically keeled over in laughter. So much for my haka training! Nevertheless, it was so funny.


The Asian haka warriors - hard at work




Rigorous haka training session included trying to stop the lyric sheets flying away while practicing. We finally worked out we weren't going to beat the wind unless we put something heavy on top of the sheets. Silly me!