This week we really got into the work at Lamdon; we have started having informal debates/discussions with the hostel students as a constructive way of practicing English. We started with some fairly easy topics such as “Is it 
good to have uniforms in school?” and the students, especially the boys, seem to really enjoy practicing their English this way. We have also started planning some other activities designed to help the students develop their English in a fun way. These include moral dramas and group activities where they need to design and build something such as a board game conducted strictly in English. The students get very involved with the discussion which is really impressive since they come to us after a full day of school. As in Cambodia when the students are enthusiastic it's really easy for us to keep things going. Unfortunately we have had a few topics we have had to quickly amend since the students were not particularly interested in them. For example the grade 7 and 8 students in the girl's hostel were not at all interested in the uniform topic. We have overcome this problem though and have plenty of alternative topics if the groups we are working with are not very excited about the one we have chosen. We rarely have this problem with the older students as their English is at a level where they can come up with interesting points on almost all the topics we can think of.
We have been trying to find something to do with our
mornings since we only start at the hostel at 4:30 and so have started joining in with the sports that run all day with different students. Of course I have been spending almost all my time playing basketball and Joss has been joining in with the volleyball although she has now started to really enjoy basketball as well. Some of the students understand basketball to an extent but it's a little frustrating that the P.E. teacher, the only person at school who speaks no English, doesn't understand the game completely. For example he called some students offside in a game a few days ago! It's strange, because all the teachers who attended school in Tibet or even bits of Ladakh understand the game really well but the P.E. teacher makes it difficult for them to pass any knowledge onto the students. The students all really enjoy playing basketball and hopefully the other teachers will have some input in the future.
Since we have been here for three weeks already we thought it was time we started investigating trips and treks. One trip that we are particularly interested in is travelling to the Nubra Valley north of Leh. In order to get to the Nubra Valley one must get a permit and travel over the second highest motorable road in the world (5603m) which goes over the Khar-Dung-La mountain pass. When you reach the top of the pass you are apparently 100m above Mt. Everest base camp! This sounded a little scary at first since there are apparently
gutted corpses of Jeeps that tried to speed over the pass and went over the edge but after asking around we found out that this doesn't happen anymore and it is now considered “safe…well, quite safe!” Amo-le told us that the Nubra valley has “something of everything - from glaciers to deserts!” Joss is also particularly excited about the prospect of riding a camel across portions of the desert there.
The weather in Leh has suddenly changed completely! When we arrived it was still quite chilly and we rarely had a day without a significant number of clouds. The trees also seemed to be in a state of autumn with everything gold and brown. Now there is rarely a cloud in the sky and all of the trees have burst into vibrant shades of green. The fields that were bare and brown when we arrived have since had various crops planted in them and already they are bright green as well! In less than two weeks it seems like the whole of Leh has changed colour. This has also coincided with the arrival of many more travelers and tourists and therefore all the businesses and restaurants that were shut when we have arrived have started opening. Really Leh seems to be waking up as a town and the trees and fields seem to be waking up as well.
Tom Kemeny
good to have uniforms in school?” and the students, especially the boys, seem to really enjoy practicing their English this way. We have also started planning some other activities designed to help the students develop their English in a fun way. These include moral dramas and group activities where they need to design and build something such as a board game conducted strictly in English. The students get very involved with the discussion which is really impressive since they come to us after a full day of school. As in Cambodia when the students are enthusiastic it's really easy for us to keep things going. Unfortunately we have had a few topics we have had to quickly amend since the students were not particularly interested in them. For example the grade 7 and 8 students in the girl's hostel were not at all interested in the uniform topic. We have overcome this problem though and have plenty of alternative topics if the groups we are working with are not very excited about the one we have chosen. We rarely have this problem with the older students as their English is at a level where they can come up with interesting points on almost all the topics we can think of.We have been trying to find something to do with our
mornings since we only start at the hostel at 4:30 and so have started joining in with the sports that run all day with different students. Of course I have been spending almost all my time playing basketball and Joss has been joining in with the volleyball although she has now started to really enjoy basketball as well. Some of the students understand basketball to an extent but it's a little frustrating that the P.E. teacher, the only person at school who speaks no English, doesn't understand the game completely. For example he called some students offside in a game a few days ago! It's strange, because all the teachers who attended school in Tibet or even bits of Ladakh understand the game really well but the P.E. teacher makes it difficult for them to pass any knowledge onto the students. The students all really enjoy playing basketball and hopefully the other teachers will have some input in the future.
Since we have been here for three weeks already we thought it was time we started investigating trips and treks. One trip that we are particularly interested in is travelling to the Nubra Valley north of Leh. In order to get to the Nubra Valley one must get a permit and travel over the second highest motorable road in the world (5603m) which goes over the Khar-Dung-La mountain pass. When you reach the top of the pass you are apparently 100m above Mt. Everest base camp! This sounded a little scary at first since there are apparently
gutted corpses of Jeeps that tried to speed over the pass and went over the edge but after asking around we found out that this doesn't happen anymore and it is now considered “safe…well, quite safe!” Amo-le told us that the Nubra valley has “something of everything - from glaciers to deserts!” Joss is also particularly excited about the prospect of riding a camel across portions of the desert there.The weather in Leh has suddenly changed completely! When we arrived it was still quite chilly and we rarely had a day without a significant number of clouds. The trees also seemed to be in a state of autumn with everything gold and brown. Now there is rarely a cloud in the sky and all of the trees have burst into vibrant shades of green. The fields that were bare and brown when we arrived have since had various crops planted in them and already they are bright green as well! In less than two weeks it seems like the whole of Leh has changed colour. This has also coincided with the arrival of many more travelers and tourists and therefore all the businesses and restaurants that were shut when we have arrived have started opening. Really Leh seems to be waking up as a town and the trees and fields seem to be waking up as well.
Tom Kemeny
No comments:
Post a Comment