They are poets and they don't even realize it

20:45 13 November 2008

The other day I had yet another fun English club that I think you might find the results of amusing. It was for my advanced (relatively group) and I wanted to try out some poetry on them. Because of their generally basic knowledge, I confined the lesson to four line long poems and concentrated on basic end-rhyming by introducing couplets and ABAB form. After a brief introduction, I quickly turned it over to the students and had them write their own poems in styles of their choice. Here are some of the better/funnier results:

I have a mouse
The mouse is in the house
He is big
He is loving a pig

I have a cat
it is under the hat
I have a dog
His name is Bob

This is a book
he is my mate
And I like to cook
and also to ate

This is my mother
She is fine
I have a father
He is like a wine

My two favorites were the last two, I explained to the author of the third one that the last line wasn’t quite grammatically correct, but that often poets ignore the rules of grammar in order to better the effects of their works and so that it was a perfectly legitimate and really quite funny poem. The last one, which the killer last line, was written by this girl and I was so impressed with it I decided to introduce the concept of similes to the group. They were intrigued with this so I also introduced them to the idea of alliteration. It felt a bit odd, even in the advanced group I know that a lot of these students don’t even know how to hold a basic conversation in English, but I figured if they found it interesting, it might inspire them to learn English better. I couldn’t help but feel slightly a hypocrite though- one of my biggest criticisms of the system in place is that their vocabulary memorization assignments are filled with words that are long, outdated, and unnecessary in most usages of the language- some choice examples “Economy Class”, “splash”, “Test Pilot”, and my personal favorite “dicker”, which I didn’t know but apparently is a barge-worker. Regardless, even if I felt weird introducing words for literary devices, the students seemed to enjoy identifying their use in Poe’s “Annabel Lee” so I was happy at the results of the club.

I’ve been meaning to write about this for sometime and forgot to when I returned from Bishkek, but driving here is a really interesting occurrence. I mentioned recently my experience on the marsthrutka to Bishkek and the corresponding drunk-driving arrest of the driver. However, this really isn’t that our of the ordinary- drunk driving is a huge problem here- just last week a volunteer that lives near me told me that his counterpart’s brother died after he drunkenly ran off a bridge into a freezing river. Similarly, the former director of my school was killed by another drunk driver, its really a big shame.

Further than just the problem of drunk driving is the even more endemic problem of “bad driving”. The combination of the main highways being no wider than most residential neighborhood American streets (not to mention their terrible condition) and high rates of travel lead to some scary circumstances. While I haven’t seen anything quite like the YouTube footage I have seen of the 15 lanes of traffic going every which way, I have seen a car passing a car passing another car, all coming within inches of hitting the car coming in the opposite direction. Also, apparently both in Bishkek, and everywhere, stoplights are much more of a general suggestion than a really firm command. People usually at least one way as they approach a light, and if it is clear or they think that they can beat the oncoming traffic, its fair game. On the rare occasions where one might be actually required to stop at a traffic light, it seems customary to line up at the intersection alongside rather than behind the other cars crowded at the light. This provides an interesting situation when the light does change, part street-race to the front, part game of chicken with the oncoming traffic, and part “who can honk the loudest” contest.

I have heard unsubstantiated rumors that Kyrgyzstan has a high rate of automobile accidents. The two I have witnessed first-hand have lent circumstantial evidence to the correctness of this assertion for me. You might think that I would be scared every time I get in an automobile, but I try and pick my taxis as best I can (seatbelts are a really nice luxury I am willing to pay extra for). I am a bit scared, but then again, what are you gonna do?