Tales from Rm 307

My little Egyptian student came in today to work on his Algebra and English skills today. We worked through his homework from last night and moved on to the next topic. He's teaching me little bits of Arabic and I'm teaching him math and English. As I sat there with him today, I felt that he was teaching me more than I was teaching him. He is so determined to learn English and succeed in school. He has such a great attitude about learning. The most entertaining part of my interaction with him is that he decided that if I am teaching him things, he would teach me things too. My homework tonight is to learn how to write car and expression in Arabic. His homework tonight is to learn how to use the order of operations. Somehow, I think he got the easier assignment.

car = سيارة

Arabic is an amazingly difficult language to learn since it goes from right to left and uses a completely different alphabet. Generally, when I "spell" something in Arabic, I use the terms squiggle, zig zag, and dot. My little Egyptian student thinks its funny. Especially, since he can read, write, and understand more English than I can Arabic.

Together, we will learn.

The most enjoyable part of my day is when he comes for his second dose of Algebra in the afternoon. It is wonderful to see someone love learning!