The Alphabet Party

A few days ago I was invited to School Number 3’s Alphabet Party (the English version). Now I had absolutely no idea what this was (I’ve had very little exposure to the schools), but I was available so I went. It turns out that it was an event to demonstrate the English that they’ve learned so far. Other teachers, the School Director, mothers, grandmothers, a musician and cameraman were all in attendance (but no fathers or grandfathers). Apparently they learn some basic English before 5th form (grade) but 5th form is when they start learning the alphabet and grammar. So I heard the alphabet, the seasons and months, and then some songs, poems, and a story, all in English, performed by the 5th form class. I’ve never been to a school program before, but it was definitely more elaborate than I was expecting – props and multiple costume changes included. Near the end people began to speak – the School Director, etc., and then all of a sudden I was asked to speak. And while the rest of the day was entirely in English, everyone else was speaking in Azeri, so that’s what I did. Off the top of my head I said thank you for the invitation, how it was interesting to experience Azerbaijan’s culture because we don’t have a day like this in America, and that if you want to learn English the basics are important. Apparently it was mostly correct – but I kind of wish I had known ahead of time so that it could’ve been better. Oh well. Then the day concluded with tea and cake with some of the other teachers – one of whom I’d actually met before through my sitemate. And while I have a feeling that some of the speaking was just memorized, it was still a neat experience to see what they are learning and doing in class.