Nadia Perez-Lourido, 134 TESS
As an English teacher in Thailand, communication with my co-teachers has been limited to smiles, giggles, and simple greetings like: “Hello”, “Good morning”, and “Have you eaten?” Thai teachers spend a great deal of time working on more than just their classes, so I don’t get to interact with them as often in school.
I have noticed elements of awkward shyness between my students, teachers and me. Maybe it’s the language barrier and our inability to express ourselves fully in our native tongue. The Thai words escape me as the English words escape them. It’s in these situations where I’ve found that a smile can go a long way.
I was asked to host an English Day for my co-teachers and I thought, what a great opportunity to get to know them and teach them new words. But I wasn’t interested in simply teaching words. I wanted to teach the feeling – the power behind these words. If there is one thing Thai people know like the palm of their hand, it’s body language. It also happens to be my favorite way of communicating when the words escape me like they so often do. From there grew my desire to incorporate both sound and body language into my lesson of the day.
Words of affirmation are not something you hear often in a Thai classroom. My students make fun of my overuse of “Excellent” and “Good job” because they’re not used to hearing this kind of talk. They’re not used to daily doses of reassurance. But one thing I’ve learned is that no matter where you’re from or what language you speak, it feels good to hear positive things about yourself, especially when learning a new language. I wanted my camp day to serve as a reminder, to empower my teachers and give them the words to describe themselves in the most positive way by using “I am” statements. It was fun to attach an action to every word. I find it’s easier for students to remember the meaning of a word if they can associate it with a movement. For strong and brave we flexed our muscles, for blessed we bowed with our hands in prayer. For smart we patted our forehead. For loved we created mini hearts with our fingers. They giggled throughout, but I could feel the energy being transferred – from mind to mouth, body to soul.
We popped balloons of affirmation and chanted, “I am strong, beautiful, successful, brave, amazing, etc..” We made identity map flowers and created a community garden out of them…
And that’s when it clicked for me… If there’s anything I want to do or be part of in this world, it’s the manifestation of more moments like this. I want to serve as a reminder to all my friends, family, co-teachers, and every person I have yet to meet: You are magic. You are capable. You are deserving. You are loved.
You are! You are! You are!
Sticky Rice 