Teacher, teacher!

One remarkable evening we stumbled into just before we left Cambodia will be one of my lasting memories of our experiences there. As Tim and I were taking an evening stroll around the small town we were staying in (which served simply as a transit point for us), some young guys started chatting with us in english, eager to practice and bombarding us with the usual lineup of questions. They then asked us to come with them to their english class. Other than empty bellies we had no reason to say no, so we accompanied them to their class at the nearby pagoda. Thinking that we would simply sit in on their class, we chatted with other students wandering in to the bare classrooms. Soon the Buddhist monks who offer these free classes showed up and Tim and I soon found ourselves at the head of the two classes (Tim in the beginner class and I in the intermediate). Next thing I knew, the young adults in my class were raising their hands and inquiring, 'Teacher, what does this mean....Teacher, how do you say this?' I was handed a reading about a Buddhist festival we were in the midst of, and explaining their festival to them in english. It was a delightful learning experience for me, and the students were anxious to learn proper pronunciation and countless new vocabulary words. The monk gently interjected from time to time with questions of his own. The monks who have never had any formal training from a native speaker, welcome assistance in their modest school that they have gotten together to ensure local village children who cannot afford classes have the opportunity to learn english. So, what turned out to be an inspiring evening for us, I can only hope helped along a fledgling school full of eager students.