Feb 2020
"ÇOK TEŞEKKÜR EDERİM!"
("THANK YOU VERY MUCH!")
Erdoğan "hasn't got
much the English!"
I am his "Sir!" and
he watches my mouth move
but the English so he says
as I watch him wrestle the words
"Gets stuck in the teeth is not
reaching the ears!"
He kisses my hand and
touches it to his forehead.
I try to turn the tables
put myself in his position.
"Erdoğan teach me
one Turkish word a day!"
He is overjoyed to teach
teacher.
"First word Sir is...."
I wait for it...wait for it.
"Beb seni çok seviyorum!"
he beams up at me.
I am overwhelmed.
"But...but...that's more than one word!""
"I say it Sir for it is true...it means
I love you very much!"
He is a hard task master.
I wrestle the words.
"Yavaş yavaş!" he exhorts me
"Slowly...slowly!"
We are putting on a Macbeth
and the Spice Girl Witches
sing to Macbeth
"Orada dur ... çok teşekkür ederim!"
Macbeth looks startled to be
addressed in Turkish.
"Stop right now..thank you very much!"
the little witches sing into their hairbrushes!
"I'll tell you what you want...what you really really want.
...you want to be Kingy thingy Kingy thingy !"
Erdoğan bows to me
pleased with my progress
"See Sir....coming along you are
but slowly - very very slowly!"
("THANK YOU VERY MUCH!")
Erdoğan "hasn't got
much the English!"
I am his "Sir!" and
he watches my mouth move
but the English so he says
as I watch him wrestle the words
"Gets stuck in the teeth is not
reaching the ears!"
He kisses my hand and
touches it to his forehead.
I try to turn the tables
put myself in his position.
"Erdoğan teach me
one Turkish word a day!"
He is overjoyed to teach
teacher.
"First word Sir is...."
I wait for it...wait for it.
"Beb seni çok seviyorum!"
he beams up at me.
I am overwhelmed.
"But...but...that's more than one word!""
"I say it Sir for it is true...it means
I love you very much!"
He is a hard task master.
I wrestle the words.
"Yavaş yavaş!" he exhorts me
"Slowly...slowly!"
We are putting on a Macbeth
and the Spice Girl Witches
sing to Macbeth
"Orada dur ... çok teşekkür ederim!"
Macbeth looks startled to be
addressed in Turkish.
"Stop right now..thank you very much!"
the little witches sing into their hairbrushes!
"I'll tell you what you want...what you really really want.
...you want to be Kingy thingy Kingy thingy !"
Erdoğan bows to me
pleased with my progress
"See Sir....coming along you are
but slowly - very very slowly!"
It was the height of the Spice Girl's "girllllll power!" so I had to incorporate their phenomenon somehow! A Spice Girl Shakespeare. The inspectors descended upon us like locusts to our learning but were highly impressed that I was prepared to bring Shakespeare to the Primary masses( it wasn't the done thing then)and with such a unique vigour and style and enthusiam" and that de kids were so deep into it.
And for the Turkish students who had hardly a word of English there was even a smattering of sir's awkward learning scattered here and there.
I shall always hear Erdoğan patient if exasperated voice saying again and again " No Sir...you are not listening...eat it with the ears...whisper it with the mouth!" He couldn't believe I couldn't get things. "But you are my Sir...surely you must know!" I had to tell him I was a very "Yavaş yavaş!" person. But he would just beam at me too and be proud that I tried.
"Never...never can you let me down...you are my Sir...but you are one very slow slow person to teach!" At least now I knew how difficult it was to him. And he had to deal with an Irish accent! He told me that "Always you have fun in your voice...it dances always!"
Another little girl drew a drawing of me with a crown perched amongst my curls. "Why the crown?" I asked. "Oh sir..." she smiled as if the answer was as simple as 2+2( which for her it wasn't)" Don't you know....you are the King of all the nice peoples."
This split year class of Year 3/4 with 34 in the class and half of them statemented was my constant delight. A shining moment in my teaching experience....this is why we teach...to be taught ourselves by the honesty and openness of kids such as these.
And for the Turkish students who had hardly a word of English there was even a smattering of sir's awkward learning scattered here and there.
I shall always hear Erdoğan patient if exasperated voice saying again and again " No Sir...you are not listening...eat it with the ears...whisper it with the mouth!" He couldn't believe I couldn't get things. "But you are my Sir...surely you must know!" I had to tell him I was a very "Yavaş yavaş!" person. But he would just beam at me too and be proud that I tried.
"Never...never can you let me down...you are my Sir...but you are one very slow slow person to teach!" At least now I knew how difficult it was to him. And he had to deal with an Irish accent! He told me that "Always you have fun in your voice...it dances always!"
Another little girl drew a drawing of me with a crown perched amongst my curls. "Why the crown?" I asked. "Oh sir..." she smiled as if the answer was as simple as 2+2( which for her it wasn't)" Don't you know....you are the King of all the nice peoples."
This split year class of Year 3/4 with 34 in the class and half of them statemented was my constant delight. A shining moment in my teaching experience....this is why we teach...to be taught ourselves by the honesty and openness of kids such as these.
