That time of the year

After a trimester or so of preparation, most of my second-years at my school finally took their Trinity spoken English exams today. I say "most," because there were a few kids who weren't prepared to even sit in on a first-level interview, who have difficulties even in Spanish, and stare at you blankly when you ask their name or their age. At the extreme end of the pole, there were a handful of children who took the level three exams. The rest sat in on level two's.

Calling a five-minute interview an "exam," implies all sorts of things, but I continued to refer to it as such so that the children might take it more seriously and aim for their best. The truth of the matter, however, is that we (myself and the teacher) were probably more nervous than the kids put together. I understand that education is a multifaceted process, but you can't help but feel like somewhat of a failure when an eight-year-old can't tell you about the color of his eyes.

For the most part, I tried not to sweat it. I'm familiar with each student's strengths and weaknesses, and I think I've done a fair job of working around both, of encouraging them to aim as high as they can. Whether or not the kids pass the exam and receive a certificate is clearly not up to me. In the end, it is just a piece of paper. There are myriad ways to buld confidence, and I just hope that they develop a healthy sense of it. And maybe--just maybe--they'll find a use for English and other languages, too.