I just realized that I'm about to hit the 3-month mark here in Hungary, and I have yet to write anything about my actual job. The deal is, I teach conversational English to high schoolers. My school is a "bilingual school," which means it has higher education standards, and an option to study as a "bilingual" in English, meaning you study other subjects in English (including math and science), and you take a 5th year of high school. I teach both bilingual classes and non-bilinguals, which basically means some of my students are awesome and are really conversational, and others are awkward and nonverbal.
I'm not the only teacher for any of my classes--I "share" all of them with one or two other teachers. This is good because it means I have help in planning the curriculum (I just follow the major topics other teachers are doing in their books), but it's also inconvenient because it means at any point during the week, I'm desperately waiting for one particular teacher to appear so I can ask them what the hell they want me to do with their class next. I tell you, Hungary is CRAZY with organization. As I mentioned, the grading system is retarded: there's a different "osztalynaplo" for each class, which is a big book with all the students' names. There's a spot to write if students were absent, another spot to write what we did that day (but nobody ever tells me which spot is mine), and in the back, spots to write grades--only I'm not allowed to write grades, because I have to talk to their other teachers and we agree on a grade. What?
Anyway, organization aside, my job is stressful, funny, frustrating, hectic, and of course, rewarding. I really love all my students, even the "bad kids." I have grades 9 through 13, so my youngest students are 14 or 15. Oh my god, I....love...the 9D's. They're just adorably charming....I want to hug all of them. Sometimes after class, the beginner group swarms my desk and the girls, like Fruzsi and Lilla, wring their hands awkwardly and try to complete a sentence such as: "Umm, Miss Plous? Does....you....NO. DO you stay in Koszeg for Christmas?" And I smile and chat with them and tell them their English is improving, and they leave the class beaming. These kids, I tell ya.
The other 9D group is just as awesome, but in a different way. (By the way, the "D" denotes that they've signed on as bilinguals--impressive especially for the beginner group, because they came in knowing nothing, and have already made plans to be near-fluent within 5 years.) The second 9D group are intermediate, and some of them are WAY ahead of the pack because they study English privately with one student, Zoli's, mom--my Hungarian tutor. So some kids don't really need some of the activities we do in class (like giving directions, for example). Zoli, Tam, Attila (another endearing "bad" kid) and a couple others do fine with most tasks. Unfortunately, as with all language classes, there are also really awkward, quiet kids who still get nervous completing a spoken sentence. Overall though, they're great--but some of the boys are a little on the ADD side--which is why they now know the word "spaz."
The older kids get progressively less adorable, especially this one group of 12th grade boys who think they're hot shit and try to invite me to drink with them. Ummm....what do you think, dumbasses? Do you think I want to spend my free time hanging out with a kid whose real name is Gabor, but tried to convince me to call him "G"? Nice try. Morons. I still like them, but I have this one group of 12th graders which is unusually huge--about 24 students--and it doesn't matter HOW cool I am (which is very, by the way)--there is no silencing a room full of 17-year-old guys at 7:30 on a Monday morning. I usually spend half that period (the "zero" hour because it's so early) just yelling at the boys and separating them, which really sucks for the obedient girls who sit in front and always pay attention. Ugh. Boys.
My oldest students, the 13th graders, are really promising. I have two groups of 13D's (one is MUCH quieter than the other, for some reason), and this is where most of my private students come from. Most of them are preparing for pretty rigorous English exams either in the next couple months, or in May-June. They know their shit and want to improve even more. They also seem to have known M.C. (the American woman who was here for 2 years before me) pretty well, and one group of girls let me know the first week that they wanted to extend their friendship to me as well. At first I was a little apprehensive about being "friends" with students outside of class--I didn't want to be accused of favoritism or what have you--but the other teachers let me know that M.C. was very much appreciated for her strong relationship with her students, so I figured, what the hell. I went out for pizza with 5 of the 13D girls one night, and it was really great. They even talked in English with each other so I knew what was going on. And they helped me order in Hungarian, and then complimented me on my (very minimal) abilities! These girls are all great in class, by the way--their group has a really energetic dynamic and they all seem to get along well--but when I hold classroom debates, they are NOT shy about holding down their side. I know they'll all be just fine in whatever they end up doing.
Meanwhile, in the other 13D group, I have a few standout students who approached me early in the semester for tutoring (which is definitely earning me some nice pocket money). These are also the few students in that group who actually lead the conversations. I'm finding that a lot of Hungarian students are fairly liberal, and have really diverse taste in music and interests. The students who I tutor also have informed me they all love one American show, "How I Met Your Mother." (They actually got me watching it too--it's just a mediocre sitcom, but now I'm into it. Damn!) The reason this is significant is because they watch it in English rather than dubbed into Hungarian, which shows their interest in catching conversational speech. I told them to keep it up!
Ultimately, school's a nice place. Of course I have my good days and bad days--anyone who knows me knows how easily I stress out about simple things, and lesson-planning has never been my favorite hobby. But the last couple weeks, I've definitely felt myself falling into a groove. I know I'm really lucky to have such a nice school, adorable students, and helpful colleagues (even if they always forget to tell me when class is cancelled!). The teachers I talk to most (Istvan, Ica, Agi, Imre, Melinda, Marietta, Marianna, Kati, and Anna) are all really nice to me and even offer to do absurdly kind things for me, like drive me to neighboring towns, or help me fix things in my apartment. They definitely keep me from being too lonely, and they make me feel more included in the school faculty. The kids can drive me nuts at times, but I'm sure I'll leave here with only good memories of all the hilarious things they've said and done--including the time last week when Zoli set his chair on fire with a lighter and a spray can of Axe body spray.
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