English in Azerbaijan

Today I started out my day by going to School #24 to see their English performance.  The students have been preparing for this event which just happened to coincide with my visit.  The performance included a translated version of the Azerbaijani national anthem, along with other songs, poems and skits, all in English.  It was great.  The students were very excited and I consider them to be extremely brave to perform in front of their peers in a foreign language. My favorite part of the performance was when a group of students sang an "ode" to their English teachers thanking them for teaching them English. That is going to be my first project when I get home, make my students write and sing a song thanking me for all the hard work I do.

I also visited another school in a more well off area.  It was obvious when I walked into the 3rd grade classroom that these students had a more advantageous situation. Their classroom was beautifully decorated and had shelves full of books and binders, something I have yet to see in a classroom here in Ganja. The students were not shy to ask me questions about my family, pets and favorite ice cream flavor.  The spoke English with an ease that which is definitely a result of their age as well as their good educational foundation.

Later we met with Halima's private university students, who gave me a tour of a local art museum. They translated everything for me and were excellent tour guides.  The university students I have met since I have been here are all very eager to travel outside of Azerbaijan and there are surprisingly a fair amount of opportunities to do so. A couple students are turning in their applications today for a U.S. State Dept. funded program called SUSI which will bring Azeri students to the University of Alabama for 6 weeks. Others are sorting out summer travel opportunities to Turkey, Poland and France which are funded by European NGO's.  NGO's play a huge role in education outreach and community development in Ganja and from what I gather Azerbaijan.  Check out my interview with Halima's student about his thoughts on learning English.