Enter Maki Combo

A brief explanation about the kids I teach: You see, they're non-native speakers of English. Not only that, they're the lowest level of non-native English, meaning just a step above ESL. Some of them have only studied English for a year or two, or English just isn't their thing, and since they're all about 15, it's getting late for them to have any chance of moving up a level, but a lot of them try really hard anyway, and I see them trying to understand.

So with that in mind, let me share some of the nuggets of wisdom I've been getting from my kids. Oh, by the way, the first week of school, all of them were confused by me. One girl even wrote in her English homework (I have her in my history class, but a fellow teacher relayed the message), "I have this new teacher Mr. Wong. He looks Chinese but he does not speak Chinese, and he from America. Maybe he is Native-American?"

I also fielded questions about why I went to America, do I really not speak Mandarin, and if I was maybe Filipino. They couldn't grasp the idea of a Chinese-American....does not compute, I made no sense.

Anyway, one of my assignments was to write sentences using a new vocabulary word: dangerous. These are some of the best answers:

"Don't get into there, there's dangerous."
"Sars is dangerous. It makes us die."
"That is dangerous to go alone to the jungle."
"It is dangerous that we explore inside the volcano."
"To fall 5 floor to 1 floor is to dangerous."

Yes, it is indeed dangerous to explore inside a volcano.

Now, let me introduce you to Maki Combo. She's one of my English students, a quiet, Japanese girl that sits with a couple other Japanese students. I call them the Japanese triangle: Maki, Riku, and Miyu. Maki became "Maki Combo" because that was one of my favorite things to order back home in sushi restaurants. Usually a maki combo consisted of a tuna roll, a cali roll, and an eel roll....mmmm. Anyway, this Maki Combo consisted of an extremely shy girl who would never talk. If I ever called on her, she would just shake her head and frown.

On the second day of class, I made them introduce themselves in front of class, and when it was Maki's turn, she said one sentence: "I am Maki...." then she looked around, and covered her face with a paper she was holding and turned bright red. I tried to get her to say at least one more sentence but she scurried back to her chair and covered her face with her hands...for the rest of class!

So, it wasn't much of a surprise when she didn't want to do her speech for the monthly exam. Not only that, she absolutely refused to try, even when I gave her the option to read her speech off a paper. The speech was worth 10 points on the exam, so she was almost dooming herself to a bad grade for the term. But nope, she didn't care.

One day passed, and I casually suggested that she could still do her speech with me, one on one after class or at lunch. Nope. No way.

Second day. Same. Maki Combo wasn't having it. I talked to her homeroom teacher, who then talked to her parents.

Third day. The homeroom teacher came back to me and told me that the parents said that they knew that Maki was shy, but they couldn't do anything to change her mind. But she'll fail the test, I said. They know, but she's too scared.......Now what?

Fourth day. I played pictionary with the vocab list, and I specifically called on Maki to draw. She was hestitant, but she did it: "laundry" was her word. When the kids guessed the word correctly, I could see that she was excited. And then, I was completely shocked when Maki raised her hand and answered two of the other kids' pictionary words. And she got them right! I felt a tide turning.

Fifth day. Friday. At lunch time I see the tops of girls' heads poking out from the office window. They peek in, then sneak away, then peek in again. I see Riku and Miyu, and some other students from my ecology class, but I wait to see if they come in. When they catch me looking, I hear screeches and they disappear, and then come back after a few seconds.

Finally, one of my ecology students comes in, Junko. "Mr. Wong, my friend is outside, and she wants to do her speech, but she is very nervous."

I jumped out of my chair. "Is it Maki?"
She nodded. "Yes."

So I went outside and Maki was there, looking petrified. "Um, let's go to an empty classroom," I suggested. I found a nearby one and closed the door. Her friends looked on from the hallway. Maki Combo figeted for awhile as she took out a notecard. She glanced up at me and I nodded for her to start.

Then it happened. For the first time ever: I actually heard Maki Combo's voice clearly...and her English was good! She told me about her Autumn Festival, which was the topic, and her sentences made sense, and had reasonably understandable grammar. When she was done, I didn't say anything for a few seconds.

She looked like she was ready to run away, but then I told her that her speech was an "A" speech. Her eyes widened. I continued and said that she shouldn't be nervous because her English was better than most of the other students' and definitely better than my Mandarin.

I couldn't tell if Maki was going to cry or if she was really happy so I thanked her quickly and said that she could go. She smiled and nodded. Outside her group of friends erupted into cheers and congratulations.

Maki Combo had done it.