Teacher or Student?

I am definitely embracing both roles, and the kids at my school don’t know that their roles as teacher and student are a bit blurry too. We’re all doing our fair share of learning and teaching daily. I have taught the students that there is a big difference between food and foot, edition and addiction – which in the end might keep one from sticking his foot in his mouth or acquiring a second bad habit. Not that I can actually model those things. I’m definitely learning how to be more humble, though – I have a new instructor who is teaching me Khmer vocabulary. He is nine. He sits with me during lunch and we go over the same words every day because I can’t remember any of them. I’m nervous because tomorrow he’ll expect me to know mango, water and car. It’s pretty hilarious – if you have seen Pink Panther with Steve Martin, you’d understand how the interaction goes. “I wooood lach to buy an amburegeare.” Well, my little buddy says “water – tduk”, and I say “tuk”, and he says, “no, tduk” (louder) and I say “tuke” – he says, “TDUK!” (frustration mounting, big eyes), and I give up and drink the water. We repeat the process with mango. It’s exhausting, really. So I know how my students feel when I make them repeat “huge” and “human” over and over again (those words are impossible, for the record – “shuge” and “shuman” every time… I can’t even say them correctly anymore). The kids give a lot - it’s clear that they are not always comfortable or capable, but they put themselves out there anyway. So I’m trying to learn from them and doing the same – I ask how to say new words at the risk of being laughed at… almost every time. Communication is complicated enough when two people speak the same language – imagine communication problems eight hours a day. I’m grateful for a sense of humor, or I would go crazy. There’s still time, I suppose – it’s early  .