Jul

29

Wonderful World

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Three summers ago, I was in Ukraine, teaching English to young and old Ukrainians on a voluntary basis. Preparing the lessons and classroom materials was rather tedious, but the general experience was fun and fulfilling.

While my first stint as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher in Prague — I was still a trainee at that time — a year before proved to be challenging and at some point “bumpy,” my English teaching program in the Ukrainian town of Kremenchuk went smoothly. It could be that in Ukraine I got to spend more time with my students than what was afforded to me in the Czech Republic, where I taught general English in different classes under the scrutiny of meticulous British teacher trainers. Or it could also be that, after my intensive month-long TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) course, I came more prepared…and more confident. My lessons were more cohesive, too.

Armed with English coursebooks, homemade worksheets, writing materials, and CDs, I taught English in one of the spacious classrooms of a Bible college, generously provided for by the local Christian church in Kremenchuk.

My students seemed to enjoy the lineup of activities I prepared day by day. At one point, I handed them a lyrics sheet of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” — I just love this inspiring song — with info gaps (blank lines) here and there that the students had to fill in as they listened to the CD. It was a vocabulary-building task, which I thought they would enjoy. And they did — immensely. My students said they loved the melody and the message of the song. If I remember it right, they learned this song by heart right away. One male student told me during breaktime, “I love that song.”

After the info gap exercise, I started a free-wheeling discussion. I asked them, “What makes you happy?” “What are your favorite things?” It was meant to encourage them to practice their speaking skills. Each one of them gave his/her respective answer. Smiles. Chocolates. Summertime. I particularly remember a student response that pleasantly surprised me and effortlessly warmed my heart: “My English teacher makes me happy.” That was Vladimir’s earnest reply. For a while, I was speechless.

On my last day with my Ukrainian students (i.e., the first two groups of learners I handled), we listened to the CD again and we all sang with Louie. I dedicated my “performance” to all of them, who happily shared their wonderful world with me in the summer of 2005.

Jul

18

ABBA Musical

Filed Under Family & Friends, Films, Life & Leisure, Music | 5 Comments


We originally planned to watch Kung Fu Panda to mark my 38th birthday last Wednesday. But somehow, after my husband’s last-minute revelation that what he really wanted to see was Hancock, we ended up watching the musical comedy Mamma Mia as a compromise.

And we didn’t regret our decision. Not one bit.

Mamma Mia, the film adaptation of the hit ABBA stage musical, tells the story of soon-to-be-married Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) who, after reading her mother’s old diary entries, discovers that she has not one but three possible fathers. She secretly invites them to come to her wedding set in a beautiful Greek island, where her Mom runs a tourist villa. That’s when all the chaotic fun begins.

The cast, led by the multi-talented Meryl Streep as Sophie’s mother, did a great job fleshing out ultra comic roles that required them to sing and dance to hit songs of the famous Swedish pop group. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgard, who played the three fathers, were simply hilarious in the “Waterloo” musical number that capped the film. Not to be forgotten are the lady sidekicks of Meryl Streep, played by Julie Walters and Christine Baranski, whose outrageous performances provided great comic relief.

The film is truly LOL funny. I’ve never laughed so loud and repeatedly at that inside a Swiss cinema before — Swiss moviegoers, I’ve observed, are usually reserved and I always try not to laugh so hard when watching comedy films so as not to disturb the peace and tranquility in the moviehouse (”Swiss integration,” my dear friends). But with Mamma Mia, I literally had tears in my eyes from too much laughing, sequence after sequence. I couldn’t help it.

This is the kind of movie you don’t have to carefully critique for its cinematic elements — it actually has a thin plot — and technically digest for Oscar-like reviews. Mamma Mia is, after all, one wacky comedy that encourages its viewers to loosen up and take its brand of humor seriously.

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