Today I taught my first English classes to the youngest students: 4-5 year olds, first graders and second graders. I decided that my first lesson should be about the U.S., considering that's where I'm from. Also, as I was reading through the school's English books I realized that all the information was about England, Australia, Scotland, etc. In fact, the only page about the U.S. said that Americans like to eat a lot of fast food. I felt that this was not the best depiction of the U.S., and proceeded to devote my lesson to presenting a decent image of America.
During my lesson, the Bilingual Coordinator asked if the kids knew who the president of the U.S. is. They answered enthusiastically: OBAMA! Next, he asked if they knew who the president of Spain is. The room was completely silent and the kids looked generally confused. The Bilingual Coordinator said, "This is how powerful America is. They know your president, but they don't know their own!" I couldn't believe it!
For the record, the president of Spain is Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
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I don't know how I feel about that.
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