Making Friends!

This has been a wonderful trip so far. The past two weeks have been full of traveling between the sites and teaching English. The most important part of the journey is building relationships. I have met some awesome people these past two weeks and hope to meet many, many more.  Croatia is a wonderful place and the people are very friendly.

In Petrinja, there were 9 students in my  They all were eager to learn and willing to participate and have fun! The young students in the class who already spoke English very well were willing to help the older students; this was a blessing to watch.  Every one of the students worked hard to learn all I had to teach them and I hope they will continue to practice as the time passes this year so they can be ready for the class next year.  

class. They all came to class with varying levels of speaking English. They all were wonderful students and I hope left knowing more English than they came in with.

There were 9 students in the Sisak class also. This class was very animated and had many “characters” in it. They loved to laugh and have fun as they learned English. They als came to the class with different levels of speaking abilities and as with the Petrinja Class different levels

of confidence. By the end of the class those who were shy began to open up as the others encouraged them to participate. It was thrilling to see everyone so happy and full of life.

Yesterday was graduation day! On the last day of the course the students are given a test. Since this course is about conversational English it is important to make sure the students can hold a conversation using the information presented in their class. They are given a test to assess they level of conversational skills they have acquired in English through the course. They receive a participation certificate, a certificate of achievement, or a diploma. In both classes all of the students received diplomas but 3. That does not mean they did not do well, it means their confidence needs to be built.

John and Lois Stefan plan to teach English on Saturdays during the year. I hope that the students who attended will go, it will be a great opportunity to practice their skills and gain confidence.

I will miss all of the students and it is my hope, if God is willing, to return here. I had a marvelous time!

This has been an awesome experience so far and I am looking forward to the next 2 weeks in Karlovac. I will be teaching the reading lessons there, unless we have a large turn out, which would also be awesome!