So last week I was teaching part of a lesson on modal verbs (can, could, should, may, must, might, etc.) and had the women practice asking each other polite questions using modals (e.g., “ Can you please tell me where the next bus station is?”). All of the women from Bangladesh and Morocco are Muslim. This particular class has about eight women from Bangladesh, two from Morocco, one from India, and one from Thailand. I’ve been teaching the same class of E2 (upper beginner/low intermediate) women every week and have loved getting to know them, learning about their cultures, and seeing their English improve. The project I’m teaching on offers free ESOL and Life Skills classes for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women who have been in the UK for less than two years and are on the path to settlement. Over that past couple of months, I’ve been occasionally teaching ESOL classes for an amazing organization in east London called The Arbour.
