Sues Green Frogs
Ive known Sue since she was an 8th year student at an Adelaide high school. I remember her as being a somewhat enthusiastic, even over-enthusiastic student, who was a born organizer. As she progressed through school she remained in my humanities classes and proved to be a lively and generally inquisitive student. As a member of my home class, she was an active participant in extra curricular activities and one of the driving forces in the group. What else do I remember? She had an infuriatingly stubborn streak and when in a bad mood was someone to fear! But I remember her mostly as a good humoured and sometimes pleasantly cheeky young lady. From time to time after she left school we bumped into each other and shared our memories of the good times.
How life changes. Sue went to Queensland and I went even further north, to Russia. Both of us were looking for something different. About 2 years ago, November 1999, Sue tracked me down through Hotmail and we kept in touch by email, phone and a wonderful meeting when I went back to Australia for a visit. She's still the same Sue, a bit more mature of course, but still full of ideas and enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to seeing her and her new family when I visit Australia soon.
One of the things she sent me was a copy of "There's Green Frog Poo in my Sneaker again!" I am now teaching English at BKC-International House in Moscow (www.bkc.ru English pages), with students from Beginner to Advanced level, kids, teens and adults. I have used quite a lot of Sues work with Intermediate and above students, sometimes for comprehension, sometimes for listening exercises and sometimes to back up lessons on Australian vernacular and our lifestyle. The students soon get the hang of the humour and many interesting discussions have been had over guessing the meaning of such obscure words as 'poo'! In addition, the CD is clearly spoken and the pace slow enough for students to understand in a broad way, first time round. Not only that, but it has a rhythm and rhyme which can get feet a'tapping or fingers a'drumming. For me it's an invaluable educational resource and equally useful for teachers of regular English, ESL and EFL, especially if something a little bit different and entertaining is wanted.
So there you have it, an example of how one former student has added to my life and the lives of quite a few Muscovites, even a few from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Murmansk on summer camp. Shakespeare it aint, but entertainment it be!
Mick Calvett
