I really feel like the main problem I have with my students is not that they're not motivated to learn - it's that they're only motivated to learn within their own system. This means memorizing everything, cheating whenever possible (even sometimes if it means more work) and accepting only one version of the truth. And so I teach to understand, only to be rebuffed by memorization. Even my best students, too.
Nanosh and I have been talking a lot about language lately. It's quite obvious, now, that our "dialect" English is so poor in terms of expressiveness and feeling. I see and hear people speaking in Changana and a normal conversation seems to have so much more depth to it than my English conversation does. It's clearly a reflection of culture- theater and poetry are not only valued, but are an integral part of daily life (however noticeably absent from most curricula). Maybe I'll be able to understand enough some day to make myself feel naive about this.
Peace
John
