A Language of Peace and of
Friendship
Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the
world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead, anthropologist
Shall I be able to use English as one of the instruments in my
journalistic practical work? Well it did not happen in one of the countries of Europe, and
it did...in Uzbekistan.
We had a few meetings with interesting people in Gazalkent (a town in Tashkent region
which they named the Uzbekistan “Switzerland”). I should like to acquaint you with a
remarkable young woman whom I talked to at School No. 20 some months ago. Athena
Allison Fulay is from Los Angeles, California and works for the Peace Corps. She is a TEFL
(Teaching English as a Foreign Language Program) Secondary teacher.
The Peace Corps Uzbekistan
You know quite well that the mission of the Peace Corps in many
countries is to promote peace, friendship and understanding between people of the United
States and people of other countries.
Therefore the government of Uzbekistan invited the Peace Corps to teach English as a
foreign language at the secondary and university levels in 1992. The first 54 volunteers
arrived in Tashkent for training in December of that year. Since then over 200 volunteers
of this organization have served in this republic.
Besides having the opportunity to introduce American culture and the English language to
teachers and students, the volunteers learn about the education system in Uzbekistan. They
also study the history of this country, post-Soviet Russian culture, and the traditions of
Middle (Central) Asian society. They live with families who help them study the native
languages and the culture of the people of the republic. The volunteers can only hope that
what they give to the people will equal everything they have gained.
Her Mission
Athena shared the educator Booker T. Washington’s opinion: “A
sure way for one to lift himself up is by helping to lift someone else”. I was very glad
that in spite of my limited English and her being busy she was eager to talk with me.
It seemed we understood one another without words. We spoke the same language, possibly
because we had common interests and shared similar views.
Athena’s hobbies are traveling, reading, listening and playing music. She is good at
languages; she knows several languages: English, Filipino, German and French!
My interlocutor graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in May, 1998 and
worked at the Center Theater Group. After this, she was employedat the Music Center of Los
Angeles County, and then the Peace Corps.
Athena, why did you join the Peace Corps?
The Peace Corps is a very well respected institution in America. I have
always admired their goal of promoting understanding between cultures. I wanted to be a
part of achieving this goal.
Athena, why did you decide to work in our country?
Uzbekistan has a very interesting history. It is also a part of the
world not many westerners have visited. Being a former Soviet state also makes Uzbekistan
a relatively “new” emerging democracy. I like cultures and traditions that comprise
Uzbekistan culture as a whole.
What are the differences and the commonalities between people in
America and people in Uzbekistan?
For the most part people in Uzbekistan are warm and friendly. (My
family is Tatar and from them I have learned of the various traditions of this region.) I
find that people in this country tend to accept what happens, while in America we question
our traditions and society more. Family lifestyle also differs from that in America.
People in Uzbekistan seem to be more politically aware than Americans. Americans also
place more stress on the individual, rather than the common society. But every where
people like sports and watching television!
Athena, tell please where and how you work?
I take Uzbek classes 3–4 times a week at the Gazalkent Internat. I
teach at School No. 20. I have Russian classes twice a week. My language classes are
small: 3-6 students.
I believe the readers are interested to know about your system of teaching English as a
foreign language in schools.
As a native English speaker, I teach my class entirely in English. Other teachers do more
translation work. My students need to hear as much English as possible and to be exposed
to it.
Have you any difficulties here?
I have had difficulties with finding adequate teaching materials for my
class. The classes are multi-level, so it is a challenge to teach to varying skill levels.
We have received our two-year Peace Corps assignments, and I am going to Samarkand. I want
to learn to speak Russian and Uzbek and maybe even some Tajik. I hope to travel around
Uzbekistan while I am here, as well as around Central Asia and Russia. My long term goals
include working in International Relations. I know my Peace Corps experience will be full
of challenges and obstacles, but I hope they will be quite rewarding.
And that’s all. Like it or not, it is time to say goodbye to our heroine. I took a
photograph of Athena and I thanked her for helping with my work.
I hope she will read this material together with you.
The Lesson is Over...
It was interesting being at an English lesson in Tashkent Secondary
School No. 160. I liked the schoolboys and schoolgirls and certainly their English
teacher.
I’d like to add that an interview with one of the teachers was a project which the chief
editor of the newspaper English has given to me.
At first I want to note that the English programme is based on general school themes in
the middle forms and is specialized in the higher forms. Tashkent School No. 160 is
one of the schools specializing in economics. The pupils of classes 10–11 study English
for business and for banking. There are optional forms where children study English from
the first class on a commercial basis as their parents wish.
After the English lesson, I talked with one of the best English teachers, Lyubov
Nicolayevna Yerohina, who has been teaching for 21 years.
Lyubov Nicolayevna, what do you like in your work?
I like children. It is interesting at the lesson. Pupils burn with the
desire to work, and I also burn with the desire to work. I could not keep them from going
forward. Every pupil has zeal to go to the blackboard. Some of them get disappointed if I
do not call them to the blackboard.
And how do you work with the pupils for whom studying a foreign
language is not easy?
I study more with them at the lessons. Of course I conduct additional
classes. Generally speaking in my work I pay more attention to slow pupils. I teach
children and they, themselves learn from their classmates, and help one another.
What forms do you work with and why do you like teaching?
I like teaching the 5–7 forms because the children are full of
initiative. They actively study English and also draw pictures on the subjects. Pupils
make pictures of their family, rooms, kitchen and other. Then they speak in English about
their pictures in class. We try to speak English as much as possible. For example, my
girls and boys bring to the lesson the pies and the pastries which they have baked
themselves, and explain how they have made them. Afterwards we have tea.
Tell me please what is primary in your method?
It is the broadening of vocabulary. We make cards, write the
dictatations. I dictate words in Russian, and children translate, write them down in
English, and vice-versa.
I think that your method of teaching language is creative.
Yes, it is. Pupils of the 7–8 forms compose rebuses, make creative
translations, write compositions. They defend written papers. We prepare stage plays and
the pupils choose the parts themselves.
We talked for some time. And then my interlocutress showed me some
drawings, some papers and the grammar tables of her pupils.
I thanked Lyubov Nicolayevna for her help and I gave her one of the issues of the
newspaper English.
By the way, the 1st of September is the Day of Uzbek Independence and it is only on the
2nd of September that pupils come to school to study in Uzbekistan (since 1991). The 2nd
of September is the Day of Knowledge in our country.
By Nelly Akhmerova
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