Q: "Where is Barack Obama?" - A: "He is at the gas station."

Jeni and I have recently embarked on an amazing adventure - teaching English as a Second Language. Learning languages is difficult, especially when you are an adult, and I really admire the drive of our class - each of them comes to class in the evening after a full day of work. Can you imagine how daunting it would be to walk into a strange building for the first time, sit down and have someone say some words in foreign language, and then ask you to repeat them back?

We have a very enthusiastic class of eight Hispanic women and one guy, and one South Korean young woman. It is a daunting task to think about, teaching someone English. But it is an amazing experience to start with a group of people who are hesitant to say phrases like "What is your name?", and by the end of the evening watch them say it like it is old hat. It is rewarding beyond description to see adults' eyes light up with confidence when they have mastered something new. It's like Christmas, every Tuesday night.

The question and answer above comes from last night's lesson - "to be + where?" We were matching subjects and pronouns, and learning the power of the prepositions "on," "in," and "at." So I drew some buildings on the board with their names below, "hospital," "grocery store," "church," "school," etc. Then we had photos that we could stick next to the buildings and ask "Where is _____?" and then they answer "He/She/It/They are at _____." I had a photo of my wife for "she," one of the two of us for "they," and a random picture of a cat for "it." For "he" I decided on Barack Obama. Not for any political reason - mostly because it's fun to say.

Try it! "Barack Obama." So many consonants!

I'm not sure why it amuses me so much, but I find the title of this post very funny. I've been repeating it in my head since last night. And our class thought it was fun, as well, to ask each other, "Where is Barack Obama?" And to answer, "He is at the grocery store," or, "He is at the zoo." Good times.

Next week: Verbs!