Daily Prompt: Lazy learners

Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t gotten around to? What is it and what’s stopping you from mastering the skill.

I’m very fond of learning a variety of languages. When I was studying for my Master’s degree, I saw a lady in the university walkway.

I was curious and enquired who she was and what was she doing in our university. One of my classmates informed me she was a French teacher.

I immediately followed her to her classroom, introduced myself and expressed my desire to learn French.

“You are two months late chaman,” she said.

I begged her to take me, I promised I’d make up the time I lost. She allowed me to register.

From the first day I joined Madame would ask me questions to make sure I was making an effort to learn. It went well, she was pleased.

Then there was no more opportunity to continue. I registered in a different university to study Bachelor of Education. The opportunity to continue with French was not there.

After my marriage I joined my husband in Montreal. I was thrilled I’d get a chance to improve my scanty knowledge of French.It didn’t happen as we moved from Montreal to Gander, Newfoundland, where my husband agreed to work as an ophthalmologist.

I was also lucky to get the job as a teacher. I did short courses in French arranged by our Board of Education, it wasn’t enough. What I needed  most was fluency in speaking.

I tried to learn Spanish too, I did some courses, found it easier than French, but after a year of correspondence courses I had to give it up. I had too many things going on in my life, teaching, house work, helping my children to be better students and last of all baking.

With this many things on the go, French and Spanish had to be dropped.

……………………… 🙂

Daily Prompt: Take It From Me

What’s the best piece of advice  you’ve given someone that you failed to take yourself?

I met a cousin of our friend, she was married had two kids and was laid off from her job. Her husband was also laid off. I do not know how they were coping with this.

The cousin once called me and asked what can she do to get a job. When I asked about her qualification, she said she had a Mathematics degree. I told her she should get her teaching licence , that would help her get a job because there was a demand for Mathematics. Her friends discouraged her because they didn’t want her to be busy.They even told her she may not get admission.

She applied was able to complete her education degree and got a job. Now I hear she has moved to Dubai and is teaching there. I wrote to her but got no reply,this is  how valuable she is as a friend. I don’t mind at least I gave her advice and it worked for her.

Some humans are strange, for my part I did what I thought would help her, if she thinks somehow I will gain something from it, she does not know me.

……………………………………..:)

 

Daily Prompt: Toy Story

What was your favorite plaything as a child? Do you see any connection between your life now, and your favorite childhood toy?

Our family members did not have a special toy for each of us. Yes we had board games, there was snakes and ladders and Monopoly.

Monopoly was my favorite, most of us could play it and there were  all kinds of tactic we used to win the game. It was not easy. The winning depended on what numbers we got when we rolled the dice. We did learn to count money buy and sell houses. We had a very enjoyable time.

I learned the art of saving and counting money and also buying and selling houses by playing Monopoly. In real life I neither became a ‘Real Estate’ agent nor an Accountant.

I settled for teaching which in a way helped the experience I got in playing Monopoly,i.e how to do things in a calm manner.

……………………………….:)

Five sentence fiction: Memories

 Memories

Gloria sat in her room thinking about her life, she was so ambitious, one rejection completely killed her confidence, she is scared to apply anywhere else, her Mom tried to convince her, it’s not the end of the world, there are other places you can apply, after all you are qualified to teach.

She remembered clearly her Prof told her she made the wrong choice she should have gone for nursing, there are tons of job in that field.

It’s too late, she spent so many years studying, she cannot change now, all her friends have good jobs she’s the only one who is unsuccessful, she scoured the pages of the  newspaper for teaching positions, she saw one it was a temporary position to substitute for a teacher who was going on maternity leave.

She applied immediately, she was told it was only for a year, will she be interested, it was the best thing she heard in such a long time, yes she said, “I am interested!”

That day she went home, hugged her Mom and Dad, told them about her job, she was so happy, tears rolled down her cheeks, “Thank you God” she said!

…………………………………………… 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

365 Writing Prompt: Silver Screen

Take a quote from your favorite movie– there’s a title of your post. Now, write!

“I have often walked down the street before!”

“Sheila what are you doing here?”

She heard someone call her name, she turned around there was her friend Dorothy huffing and puffing to catch her breath.

Why it’s you Dorothy , I can ask you the same question?

Well Sheila this street reminds me of the good old days when I used to walk everyday to go to the university, they were such marvelous days. I remember Mr. Baird asked you the name of your school and you were so proud to tell him the name. Did you continue your studies, what are you doing now?

I had my teaching degree, I’m back teaching in a different school, this one is a day school, I can go home and do other things.

What happened to the other school, did you not like it?

I left that one, I had other duties besides teaching, it was a boarding school, they expected me to be present in the dining hall when the kids were eating. Frankly I felt it was a total waste of my time.

Dorothy what are you doing?I went to law school to study, I completed it,  now I’m practicing law.

That’s exciting, oh Dorothy I’m sorry I have to leave now, I promised my cousin I’ll go with her to watch a movie. It was great meeting you, all the best to you.Bye!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/365-writing-pr…-silver-screen

 

 

 

365 Writing Prompt: All grown up

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up(if ever)?

I was always curious about everything. I think I was eight years old, my Dad hired a new teacher for my younger siblings, he was employed to teach them Urdu.

One day I wanted to see how my siblings were doing, there they were repeating every word that their teacher was saying, the teacher knew the whole book by heart. He had his eyes closed and in a sing song tone was reciting the words.

Something to me wasn’t right I thought, my siblings I didn’t believe could read, they were able to repeat what their teacher was saying. I waited for them to complete the lesson for that day, when they came out, I grabbed my sister I told her I didn’t think any of them could read, after continuous repetition they were able to deceive me by opening the book and pretended to know they can actually read.

I told my sister, “I bet you cannot read it.”

She insisted she can , I said: “then read.”

I opened a page in the book and asked her to read.

She said, “I want to start from the first page.”

I was convinced none of them learned to read.

I told her if she can read what difference does it make if I open the book at any page, she should be able to read. My sister stayed quiet, there was nothing she was able to say.

I went to Dad and told him the teacher does not know how to teach and my siblings after all these months cannot read a single word. They can read without opening the book. You know what that means they have memorized the whole book.

My Dad was upset, he immediately  fired the teacher .

That day onward I felt like a grown up I was able to point out to my Dad that the teacher he hired for our younger siblings was not capable of teaching!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/365-writing-pr…t-all-grown-up

DP Daily Prompt: Plead the Fifth

What question do you hate to be asked ? Why?

When I started teaching, I was asked many times, what is your grade certificate?

I will explain what this means when we apply for a teaching position in the province where I live, the department of education reviews our educational qualification and they give us a certificate on which they print the grade. This is essential, it helps  to know what someone’s salary ought to be on the basis of the grade certificate.

There was one particular teacher, who wanted to know what my salary was. The moment anyone finds out about the grade they instantly know what that person’s salary is.

She annoyed me a number of times, eventually she found out. Her mother was a secretary in the department of education!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/dp-daily-promp…lead-the-fifth/

DP Daily Prompt: Teacher’s Pet

Tell us about a teacher who had a real impact on your life, either for the better or the worse. How is your life different today because of him or her?

After completing my post graduate degree, I decided to register for the B.Ed. degree in a town named Mymensingh in Bangladesh. My classmate and I took the train from Dhaka city to Mymensingh.

We arrived in the afternoon and went straight to the Training College, we met the Principal, she didn’t seem to appreciate us arriving in her college without notice,what was worse we were two months late.

She asked us why we were late and why didn’t we apply before we landed in her office. I explained we were doing our exams, and could not contact her earlier. She seemed to understand, and said, she was impressed by our guts,even though all the places were filled she’d make arrangements to admit us by cancelling the registration of two other students who had registered before us . The Vice-Principal tried to convince her it wasn’t fair, but the principal stuck to her decision.

We were taken to show all the classrooms and where we’d be staying. As I was walking along I noticed the building was dark and looked like a ghost house, I was disappointed I was not happy that I’d have to stay there a whole year.

We went back to Dhaka ,we had a part of our exam left. I thought about my decision to study B.Ed. in that ghostly building. Back in Dhaka for some reason I got hold of the newspaper and read vacancies in different fields of education, it did not motivate me until I saw an ad of scholarships offered to students interested in various fields, mine was education, to my absolute delight scholarships were offered in my field i.e., education was on the list as well.

I tore off a piece from the newspaper, next day I wrote a letter to the authorities stating my interest in education, two weeks later I received a letter informing me to go for an interview.

I did not tell anyone in my family about it, to be called for an interview in my mind does not guarantee anything, my mom or siblings need not know about this was what I thought.

On the day of the interview I reached the place on time, I said the prayer my mom taught me whenever I needed help. When my name was called I was scared of rejection, but said my prayer again and entered the office. There were three or four of them, they asked me all sorts of questions which I answered. I was not confident I will get the scholarship,but I knew I have a place in Mymensingh if this one fell through.

About a week later I received a registered letter informing me I was selected for the scholarship.

I went to Comilla,Bangladesh my home town to give my mom and my siblings the good news. A week later I flew to Lahore, and went to the college where arrangement was made for me to register in the course.

At first I was happy because compared to that ghostly building this college was large and the students were friendly.It was probably the same evening or a day later, I felt very homesick, I missed my mom and my siblings. I could not imagine staying a whole year in this college without seeing my family.

When I thought I would not be able to concentrate, because I felt so lonely. I spoke to one of the teachers I told her I did not want the degree I just want to go home. She looked at me, smiled and said, “No chaman we have made up our mind we will not send you home without the degree,go back to your room and get ready to start attending your classes.”

I knew the verdict was firm and I must never bring up the subject anymore.

The girls in the college were very friendly, the residents and the non-residents made it a point to see me daily, and took me to different places in the city. Thanks to these friends and teachers I was able to complete the course successfully.

Now when I look back and recall those days I’m thankful to the teacher who was firm with me, had she given up on me I would not have qualified to be a teacher, I’d miss teaching all those wonderful kids who made teaching fun for me!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/dp-daily-prompt-teachers-pet/

When work is a pleasure life is a joyby Maxim Gorky,posted by Ranu

When work is a pleasure, life is a joy,

when work is duty, life is slavery Maxim Gorky

Wise men and women have left their words of wisdom for us to learn from it. I thought about the first line,”when work is a pleasure, life is a joy.”

I found my work of teaching the kids a pleasure, and I felt life is a joy, those innocent kids gave me so much pleasure by their thoughtfulness, they were aware I was scared of walking on the ice, they’d come forward to help me walk on our parking lot which was always a sheet of ice in the winter.

We have long winters here where I live, I learned to depend on the kids to help me whenever our school parking lot was icy, life was a joy watching the kids extend their hands to me to safely reach the building, where can anyone find this act of kindness.

The second line made me chuckle,”when work is duty,life is slavery.”

I recall the time when my husband’s brother visited us with his family. He’d want me to make special breakfast for him and his family, he wanted me to prepare special lunch and dinner too. One day I came for lunch from school, instead of eating lunch and go back to work, I had to cook special lunch for the five of them, I didn’t have time to do the dishes because I had to go back to work. My sister-in-law said,”It’s okay Bhabi(sister-in-law) I’ll take care of the dishes.”

When I came back from work at 4 pm the dishes were left in the sink, the in-laws  didn’t bother to help me wash the dishes,instead they said, “We were waiting to have a cup of tea.”

“When work is duty,life is slavery”, I completely agree. It’s my fault too, I should have made sure to let them know that they should do the dishes, I didn’t and they took advantage of me.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/when-work-is-a…posted-by-ranu

365 Writing Prompts: Naked with black socks

Are you comfortable in front of people ,or does the idea of public speaking make you want to hide in the bathroom? Why?

Public speaking or not I am a bit jittery when I have to speak in front of a gathering. After the initial five minutes I feel okay.

I won’t admit I love speaking in public, however I can if I have to. Someone once remarked, ” you are a teacher how can you be nervous in front of a public?”

My reply was,”I do not have trouble teaching, but it’s different from public speaking, here I have a group of kids whom I see every day, a friendship develops and the fear factor is removed.

This is a kind of fear, where I feel I may not be able to do a good job, it makes me nervous.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/365-writing-pr…th-black-socks