Classroom Activities Part I: Shopping

Last week I went off a little bit about the differences in the education systems of the United States and Madagascar. I’ve been thinking for a while that maybe I should share a little bit about my classroom activities with you. Honestly, the classroom is draining. The school is divided into seconde, première, and terminal classes (10th-12th grade, often called S, P, and T). Earlier in the year, I used to have lessons for S/P and for T classes. But that hope, like many plans, went right out the window when I realized that the classroom and the lack of resources was going to make me think outside the box more than I had before.

Teaching in a classroom with a bunch of Malagasy students is kind of like teaching Scouts. They’re loud, rowdy, like to ask questions that are way too personal for a teacher to answer, and don’t really understand what you’re saying in English. In addition, the level of English various wildly from class to class. Some classes I don’t hold back with only giving directions in English whereas in others I barely bother and just give it to them in French.

My resources are limited to my brain, whatever paper I have lying around, and a chalkboard. I’ve learned to be pretty creative with these things and have somehow managed to teach my students some useful English. You can consider this the start of a mini-series of posts where all I’ll do is share my lessons with you for your own enjoyment. The first one I want to share, which I think is probably my favorite less, is about shopping.

Shopping is a great lesson for learning any language because food is a necessary aspect of, well, living. And trying to obtain food, by necessity, is very useful to know. So I began my lesson by asking my students about their favorite foods and gauging whether they were telling me the truth or if they were only regurgitating the little vocabulary they actually knew. After a little while of interrogating my students like this, I moved on to 5 different places you can buy food from. They included: Bakery, butcher, produce market, grocery store, and supermarket. I went on to describe what these stores are like, how they look in Madagascar in comparison to the United States, and what kind of products you can buy at each. I wrote the names of these stores at the top of the board horizontally with a whole blackboard-worth of space underneath each one so that I could write.

I then wrote a short list of some foods and products, e.g. bananas, rice, beef, bread, pineapples, etc. The students, as a group then had to tell me at which store they could buy each item. Once they completed that, I had them practice a dialogue after explaining that client in French translates to both client and customer in English and that client is typically a professional term. Thus, it’s better to use customer in this situation which better translates to the Malagasy mpividy. I used vendor for the clerk because it’s similar to the French, vendeur and close enough to meaning in the Malagasy, mpavoratra. The dialogue was simple enough:

C: Hello, do you have any ___?

V: - Yes, that will be ___ dollars. (OR) No, we don’t have any ___, sorry.

C: Here you go, ___ dollars.

V: Thank you, have a great day!

C: Thank you, you too!

After we practiced this dialogue and explained the concept of the US dollar and the whole thing with cents (which many foreigners can’t grasp their heads around), I asked for not 1, but 5 volunteers. It’s like pulling teeth to get one kid to volunteer, mostly because the Malagasy are introverted on average. Once I managed to find 5 brave (or reluctant) colunteers, I gave them each a piece of paper with the name of one of the stores on the front and a list of products and their prices on the back. I sent them around the room and then explained to the remaining students that they would be receiving a number of items they needed to purchase. These items were randomized and written on little slips of paper that I handed out. The students then had to go around to the different stores and use the dialogue each time in an attempt to purchase the item. If they didn’t know where to buy the item they were given, well, they’d have to go and find the right store.

The higher level classes I would break into teams and see who could buy their items first. After everything was set up, I counted down from three and proceeded to watch the absolute madness and chaos ensure. Kids were running all over the place. Store vendors, those poor volunteers, were faced with long lines of pushy and desparate customers. Some boys were climbing over tables. One kid was walking around with a bag on his shoulder and looked at me and said, “I even have my shopping bag.” Students were laughing, running through the dialogue, and rushing to get to every store. Every now and then a student would come to me and ask where to buy the item. I shrugged my shoulders and told them they’d have to find it on their own. Below is a video of the smallest class I have doing the activity.

After everyone was done, I’d go through some of the items they bought and asked them where they found these products. I’d write their answers under the proper stores, and we’d repeat this process at least one or two more times. I ended class by talking about the difference between measurements likes pounds/kilos, gallons/liters, and the USD to the MGA, which is a ration of $1 to 4,000 MGA. We’d then talk about prices in Madagascar and the US, which would blow my students’ minds. I can buy and avocado for 1,000 MGA here (about a quarter). Chicken is about $4 a pound, more or less. They couldn’t get over it, and my statement of, “C’est pourquoi je suis riche ici au Madagascar mais pauvre aux Etats-Unis,” and that’s why I’m rich here in Madagascar but poor in the United States, produced a chorus of laughter.

Unfortunately, whenever I asked why they thought the prices were different, the answers were usually the same, that Madagascar is a poor and underdeveloped country. They’re not wrong. The most recent economic data suggests that at the current rate, it will take Madagascar 70 years before it reaches the living conditions of Rwanda, which is the safest country in Africa and has become the primary model and example for African countries when debating economic policies and social structuring. Still, it’s awkward for me because they tend to look down on their country which has so much potential.

Anyways, this is the first of many lessons I’d like to share with you just so you can grasp a little better what my normal day in the classroom looks like. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share with you some of these lessons and the things I have learned from teaching them. Anyone who teaches well knows that sometimes they learn more while teaching than their actual students do. The school year is rapidly coming to a close. My terminal students (seniors) have mock exams the first week of June whereas my seconde and première students (sophomores and juniors) will take their end of the year exams the following week. Afterwards, there are two more weeks of ambiguity as it’s unclear whether there will be class or not. I think it’s up to me. School officially ends June 24th, just in time for the Independence Day celebration on June 26th. And then the Terminal students sit for a week-long BAC exam that will determine whether they graduate high school and can get into university, sometime in July. As always, know that you are in my prayers each morning. All I ask is that you do the same for me.

May God be praised.