Refrigerators and Wardrobes

On Thursday CCS had set up an English camp for the teachers at a local school and we all agreed to help, relieving us from our placements for the day. The camp was divided into three sections: my home (where teachers would learn the words for the rooms in their homes and things in the rooms); my school; and an internet section where they would learn to search for things on the internet. The final section would teach them the English words for all of the ingredients and steps in making Thai spicy papaya salad and would then have to explain in English before making the salad.

There were about 30 teachers and almost all of them were married women in their 40's and 50's. For the initial ice breaker exercise we gathered into a circle and there was a space left between two people. These people were then to grab hands and seek out someone else in the circle to fill the gap, thereby creating another gap. The two new people on each side of this gap were to do the same, until the music stopped, leaving those not in the circle to come up and introduce themselves. After one round, we started with two gaps and the result was mass chaos and plenty of hysterics.

I was in the 'my home' group with Ellie, another volunteer from England. We had a model of a house and drawings of the various rooms taped up on the wall. After talking about the various rooms and items in the rooms from the model, the teachers were to find the word for the items in the rooms and the picture, match them up and tape them to the corresponding room on the wall. After this, they were asked to write, in English, a description of a house.

The women were all very good natured and interested in learning, repeating the English words for household items with serious determination. Because I am from the US and Ellie is from the UK, we often gave them two words for the same object (Sofa/Couch, Wardrobe/Closet, Cooker/Stove, Cupboard/Cabinets). The words that gave everyone the most trouble were "wardrobe" and "refrigerator" and the results were quite amusing (to both the women and volunteers). "Wardrobe" most often came out "Wartheb" and "refrigerator" was just unintelligible. A few of the women got it after a while, but it made us realize not only how ridiculous we must sound trying to proonounce Thai words, but also how difficult it is to learn English as a second language. The few who did get the words down often became so excited that they would run around the room yelling out the word. They all seemed to enjoy the class and each other.

After the three sessions, we all joined together again for the salad making. After teaching them the words for all of the items and the motions necessary to make the salad (peel, chop, grind, etc.), we asked them to write the steps down and present them in English. One thing I have yet to mention here is the vast difference in the reception of western men and western women from Thai women. Thai women love western men; women are tolerated. Tony (tall, handsome, 25 and married) was offered various hands in marriage and one woman said that she was too old for marriage, but when she died she would like to be fertilizer in his garden (one of the more disturbing things I have ever heard. Bill (64, retired, slightly over-weight) had a women bowing at his feet proclaiming her love in between steps to make papaya salad.

The women then returned to their tables and began making the salad. One woman broke out a tambourine and her whole group began singing and dancing as they worked. It made for a very festive end to a great day.