A Teaching Experience

 Have you ever wondered what it’s like to teach? Do you think it’s difficult or easy? And what really is the purpose of teaching?

Teaching can be seen in different ways, or be done in different ways. Some good some bad, but it all serves a purpose; to spread knowledge. It lets us learn important life skills, subjects in school and other extras along the way. But the most important part of teaching is passing the knowledge that you have learnt to others. Many people are not aware or not given an opportunity to, or just don’t realise that they can. I didn’t too, until I decided to take the opportunity and go for it.

I stared at my phone screen, weighing out my choices. My mom had showed me a Facebook post that my previous french teacher had posted, about volunteering to teach refugees conversational English. I wasn’t sure if I should volunteer. Firstly, I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands, I had already signed up for many extra activities, and on top of that, I had my IGCSEs coming up soon, so I couldn’t afford to have too much on my plate. Secondly, I wasn’t sure if they would allow 13 year old students to volunteer to teach, and I was afraid that I would get rejected.

I reread the post multiple times, trying to makes my decision, when I noticed a link at the bottom of the page that I didn’t realise was there before. It lead me to another page with gave a more detailed description of the program, and after I read that was when I made my decision; I was going to take the opportunity. It mentioned that the duration would only be for 6 months, and 30 minutes every week. It wasn’t time consuming at all, considering the fact that they would provide me with the teaching materials necessary.

I messaged my teacher, who was also the organiser, using the phone number provided, and carefully constructed a message, hoping she would give me a chance.

“Bonjour Madame Julie! This is Rania, I used to be in your French class at Tanarata. I am contacting you because I am interested in volunteering to teach the refugees conversational English. My mother showed me your post today, and I was very fascinated by it, and I felt that it would be a very good experience for me. I skipped one grade in school, and by the end of this year, I will be in Year 10, plus, English is my first language, I usually get top in my class for the subject.

I hope you consider it, and I would really appreciate it if I could participate in this good cause. Thank you!”

-The message I sent to my teacher

A few minutes later I got a reply. And I was over the moon. She had accepted me, saying that she believes in youth empowerment. She gave me the number of her co-organiser, with whom I had a call with to discuss the timing of the lessons. I agreed to teach one of her students, Naqya, who was the same age as me. We created a whats-app group, and before I knew it, everything was planned and settled, and I was due to have a class with her that Sunday at 1 o’ clock.

It was the day of my call, and I was anxiously waiting for the clock to strike 1. I had created a zoom meeting and sent the link in the group. Soon, Naqya had joined the meeting, and our class started.

As it was the first class, it was mostly about introducing ourselves. The teaching notes weren’t very helpful, as the questions were quite limited, and weird too, as some of them were about who she is married to, and if she had any kids, which was quite unusual to ask a 13 year old, so I decided to just go with the flow. I started off with some simple questions, such as her name and age. I was actually quite suprised with how well she spoke English. Of course she wasn’t fluent, but it was much better than I expected. We were actually able to have a proper conversation after a few minutes, and we weren’t as awkward anymore. I learnt that she is a refugee from Afghanistan. She moved here with her parents, and now lives in Ampang with her cousins. When she told me she was from Afghanistan, I remembered studying about that country while I was homeschooling. From what I remember, the Taliban gained control over Afghanistan in the year 1996, and the war continued on from then, and I suspect that is what caused her to seek refuge.

My 1st call with Naqya

The next call was slightly different, but not so. The co-organiser, Maddie, sent me the next teaching notes, which was about ‘a visit to the doctor’. When we started the class, I asked Naqya about her opinion on going to the doctor, and she said that she didn’t like it. Her mom is a doctor, and she rarely sees her, and I assumed that it was because of Covid-19. I didn’t push the subject further as it can be quite traumatizing, so I decided to just talk to her instead, about other things and aspects of life.

When one teaches, maybe it seems that the teacher gains nothing, and the only one benefiting is the student. Well this is a common misconception and it is very wrong. Teaching gives you a new perspective, in life or certain subjects. As for me, I gained a new perspective about different lifestyles. How it is to be a refugee in Malaysia, and how life was in Afghanistan before she left.