Our 2nd Graduating Class

Our second set of English classes just graduated. We had a 118 take the final exam and about a hundred and five attended the graduation. This semester we had five classes that each met twice a week. The large majority were University and high school students. The course lasted for 20 weeks. Notice how nice everyone dressed.

Teaching English classes has been very challenging and rewarding. It is rewarding because the students are so appreciative and made significant advances in their abilities. It's been challenging because it's hard to deliver a lesson in a way that's understandable, challenging and interesting to the students. We have a lot of trial and errors. We spend a lot of time with preparation. Fortunately now we've had a semester of the intermediate class and two semesters of the basic class so we've gotten the lesson format and content down pretty good. This next set of classes should require much less prep time
This is a sample graduation certificate. We printed it on high-quality paper. In this Society certificates of accomplishment are highly regarded.
Each of the students came up individually as their name was read. Cheryl and I took turns awarding the certificates.
The entire program lasted three hours. Cheryl and I were each asked to give remarks. Are combined remarks lasted no more than 10 minutes. Cheryl's getting very good at giving remarks. We've done it often enough now that we feel comfortable.
A local youth dance group performed a traditional Timor Leste dance.
We were able to fit everyone into our tiny Church. Each of the 5 classes had a representative give a few words and then one of the classes sung a song.

It's remarkable and humbling that an educational opportunity is held in such high regard. Most of the students came dressed in their best clothes. All stayed for the entire three-hour graduation. All repeatedly expressed appreciation for the opportunity. We probably had our picture taken 500 times after the graduation
The two days before the graduation we had our final exam. This is a rainstorm that developed just before students started arriving. The students still came. They were soaking wet.


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