Beginner English Classes are going much better this time around than back in October when I first started teaching. My PowerPoints are getting better, more colorful, fun and understandable. My lessons are getting more easier to manage for the students and they are getting timed down to exactly one hour. I am doing a better job of leaving my students with assignments that will help them with the next lesson and I am also recording audio for each of the lessons in English and Mongolian so that the students can practice listening and speaking on their own after each class. My overall plan is to have 50 doctors, nurses and health care professionals within the hospital who can speak at an Intermediate Low level by the end of my two years here. The current pace is roughly 15 – 20 students in each of my classes, with about a 15 – 20 student rollover into the next advanced class. With each semester of classes lasting about 2 to 3 months, this would give me about 45 students at the level I want them in 3 total semesters. Last semester (October to December) I offered 3 Beginner English classes twice a week which dwindled from 20 students each to around 5 students in each class by the end. With this in mind, and after talking with several of my coworkers, I decided this semester I would offer fewer classes (one beginner, one intermediate) for a longer amount of time (three times a week). I think this will keep the numbers relatively high and also give me more time to review the lessons each week. Attendance so far has stayed above 12 students every class, so that is good. Based on the busy schedules that each of these professionals have, I am especially impressed by their involvement. I am excited about class and feel like, even though I have a lot to learn, I may be a fine-tuned English teaching machine in the next year and a half.
