Blogabroad
by Mary Pinckney Waters

November 11, 2005 - Cash, conversation, culture and curriculum

"So I have a question. Is it really like that movie 'American Pie' -- that young people in the United States feel they MUST have sex on prom night? I mean, what if you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend at the time?"

One of the beauties of teaching English conversation courses in another country: entertainment.

The exchange program between the universities of South Carolina and Bamberg is one of USC's oldest, and the relationship between the two schools has grown especially cooperative over the years. As a result, an assistantship at the University of Bamberg is automatically offered to two USC students each year. One student teaches English courses in Bamberg's business department and the other teaches courses in the English department. The students also proctor labs and exams as necessary and do secretarial work for their respective offices for a fixed number of hours each week.

It's an extraordinary opportunity on multiple grounds.

First, (let's get this one out of the way) green is a gorgeous color and it matches everything.

Second, I have been given a purpose upon arriving in Germany, as well as a network of associates through the English department and the beginnings of a sense of accomplishment. These things are hard to underestimate in the context of an exchange program, in which it's easy to succumb to feelings of out-of-placeness.

Next, working in the office exposes me to areas of study that I've never had any contact with, such as didactic and pedagogy. When I make photocopies of handouts or proofread essays, I try to be as osmotic as possible.

And the actual teaching? That's my favorite part, hands down. I teach two English conversation courses, and the coolest (but most intimidating) part of the job is that the curriculum rests entirely in my humble hands. Or, as my boss in the English department put it, these students come to class to practice speaking the language; as long as they're talking, it doesn't matter what they're talking about.

Teaching these courses is as much -- or more so -- a learning experience for me as it is for the students. I've had leadership positions so I've managed groups before, and journalism is, after all, my major so I hope I know how to ask a good question or two. But the complexities of keeping a class stimulated, compensating for different ability levels and making sure everyone's actually learning something ... well, I'm just getting dirt under my nails.

As far as the curriculum, the students expressed that they would enjoy discussing different areas of U.S. culture because most of them had taken or were taking a lecture course on American culture that didn't allow for student feedback. So I've laid out broad cultural themes for each class (such as health, the U.S. tax system or American popular culture), and each session I bring in targeted news articles or forums or whatever real-time material I can find to make these textbook topics more relevant in the here and now.

Yesterday's theme, for example, was family, so I brought in texts on the same-sex marriage controversy in the United States. I had half the class read an argument in support of same-sex marriage as a civil right and the other half read a transcript of a radio interview discussing same-sex marriage on a "Focus on the Family" broadcast. (Can you guess what their stand was?) Each group discussed its own text and then summarized its reading to the other half of the class for a broader discussion. Finally, I showed the episode of "South Park" where Big Gay Al is fired as the boys' Scout troop leader because club policy doesn't allow homosexuality. For their listening comprehension, of course.

The students always have interesting (and sometimes quite amusing) remarks to make about American culture, and especially our culture in comparison with their own and others. Of course, every now and then, an "American Pie" question lands on the table and I feel like I'm in some absurd sitcom, but most times the German students' opinions about America are remarkably insightful, especially for me as an American listener.

It's almost as if the United States is my boyfriend. (OK, work with me, here.) Then the Germans are my best friends with an outside perspective on the relationship, and they can tell me all those advantages and disadvantages about my beau that I might be blind to. You don't always believe everything your best friends tell you about your relationship, but you at least want to hear them out, don't you? Because sometimes they notice things that you miss when you're so tangled up in your own relationship, or your own culture, if you will.

Anyway, whoever my boyfriend is and however the relationship is going, I look forward to hearing more opinions from people with different perspectives, and I hope you look forward to hearing about them from me.

Mary Pinckney Waters welcomes your comments and feedback: marypwaters@yahoo.com