Feeling American

Note: For the sake of this post, please substitute all of the words in red with the voice of Mazen, a fourth grader with a heavy British accent. The black words are me, with a Northern American accent of course!

On Mondays, John and I walk to Cutteslowe, the small town right by Oxford. At the Cutteslowe Community Center we help with the Homework Club which serves any interested students with an afternoon tea and homework hour after school. Yesterday I worked with a group of fourth graders on their literacy homework. This was my latest experience:

Ok, let's see what homework you have to do today.
Are you American?
I am.
Cool, cool. Where in America are you from?
Michigan.
Michigan, did you hear how she said that? Michigan. [laugh] Can I be American today?
You can try. So, what is this worksheet on? Oh, adding suffixes to words. Ok. So we have to read the words and match it to a rule. The first word: planning. What do you think of that?
Planning. Say that again. Planning. Planning (with emphasis on the Northern accent)
Planning. The first word is planning.
Oh, I like that. Planning. Cool.
Oh dear. Ok, let's get some work done...

I just finished my day of tutorials. I met with both of my tutors and turned in papers on what I have been reading and studying during the last week. Last week I worked on The Great Divorce by CS Lewis and the History of the Standardization of the English Language for my tutorial in The English Language. Both interesting subjects. If you haven't read The Great Divorce (or The Screwtape Letters - also very good), I highly recommend them. "By Lewis exposing the heart and motives of these characters who have not yet received the salvation that God offers, he is also very effectively exposing the darkness, light, and motives of our hearts, probing us to ponder the gift of salvation that is offered to our souls in order to become one accustomed to life on the ‘crystal grass’."