Tom and Sinoun study at 10:00 am following her trip to the market with the Center cook and helping her begin meal preparations. Each student here has duties to help make the Center run smoothly.
She is one of upperclasswomen at the Center. Her leadership is amazing and her English skills have improved so much since we started coming to the Center. The first year she was living at the Center she did not want to study with Tom as she was afraid to speak. Now they have good conversations.
Sreynich is a Sophomore at a University here. Students that live at the BEST Center attend about 4 Universities across this big city of about 2 million people. The students who live here come from villages some distance away so it must be rather a shock to them, but the Center provides a safe place where they can develop relationships, learn about God and the current program will also provide an improved method to develop their English speaking skills.
Sidet, a sophomore, is hesitant with her English skills. We consulted an English dictionary this week about the word 'afraid'. I emphasized that fear is the quickest way to fail in anything one tried, including learning English. What a joy to see students begin to relax and learn. He university studies are important to her as well as her Bible and English studies at the BEST Center.
Titya is a junior at the university. His English skills are good but he still wants to learn more. He loves to play football (soccer in the US) and is an aggressive player. The guys get together and play every Saturday afternoon, playing the students from CBI (Cambodia Bible Institute).
Makara is a freshman and a quiet person who seems to meditate on her studies. This is the first year for Tom and I to teach this series of lessons and it has been good to teach more English grammar, spelling and sentence writing. We keep hearing that the students who apply for jobs here are almost always asked about their English skills. What a blessing to help them with those skills in a place where we can also emphasize our faith and know that these students will know God and English when they leave this place to go to their families.
Chey Sen is a freshman, his first year at the Center. Every time I see him in the courtyard he is playing with a soccer ball. English is new to him and he struggles, but I can see improvement. I think that I have convinced him that he can ask questions. His convincing smile can get him anywhere.
Samrith also joins in the soccer games. He is an agricultural major. He will begin studying with Paul within the week. Paul has been on leave in the States but lives in Phnom Penh to teach at the BEST Center. Tom will miss him.
Sreyrath is also a junior majoring in Vet Science. She wants to work with chickens. She likes to teach the children of those whose families come for our worship times on Sunday. We are thankful that one of her duties is to clean our bedroom each week. Thanks Sreyrath.
Kakda (left) and Sinat (right) are a good team. They are sophomores and have progressed in their English skills since last year. I am so happy to work with this team as they are learning to avoid the fear of speaking English that they had. We are using an online course and then I review and emphasize the points of the lessons. They also are given 40 vocabulary words from the lessons that are probably new to them and have a test each Friday. These girls are doing great with at least 90% each test so far.
Kimleang (female) is a freshman and the third student from her family to live at the BEST Center. She is more advanced in English than some of the students here.
Bun Thou is also a freshman and is catching on to English quickly. His brother is also living here and is a little older and is studying with Dara, who is part of the Cambodian staff here. Bun Thou will also begin studying with Paul soon.
Sros is a very dedicated English student. He takes comprehensive notes and obviously studies them. English does not come as easy for him as some, but he is progressing. He is not afraid to ask questions, which is a good thing. He is also dedicated to his Bible studies. Every student here studies Bible 2 hours each day. When they graduate and must leave this place they should have a good knowledge of scripture and most have a strong faith in God.
Orsoth is also a freshman student and is learning English quickly. He is a lot of fun to teach since he can now carry on a conversation in English. This week we provided WORDSEARCH puzzles with their Vocabulary words and he completed that search faster than any other student.
Dara (left) has been a staff member at the BEST Center for a long time. He teaches many Bible Classes to the dorm students, along with Awy and Piseth. Each student living here studies Bible 2 hours each day. Dara also teaches English to those students who do not know enough English to study with a foreigner. These are 2 beginning students.
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