We are a week
and a half into learning the local ‘village’ language. We are still students sponsored by the
University, but there isn’t any ready-made curriculum or any designated
tutors. So how in the world do we go
about this enormous task? I, Erin, was
feeling quite overwhelmed by this fact last week. Thankfully we have both received great
training for this particular task. We’ve
begun with a lot of listening and recording.
We each meet with a local language speaker 2 hours a day. We ask for a couple common phrases, record
them, then memorized them (even if we don’t quite understand them). For example, “what is this?”, “good morning,”
and “how do you say that in the local language.” That is about all the actual speaking we are presently
doing. The majority of our time is spent
with an activity called Total Physical Response (TPR – the more you move the
better). For example, to learn colors,
we set on the table a red crayon and blue crayon. We point to the red one and ask, “what is
this?”, thus eliciting a word or sometimes a phrase. Then repeat for the blue one. We continue pointing and eliciting the two
words until we feel we have a good grasp on them. We do not repeat or say them, just
listen. Then we have the tutor ‘test’ us
by saying the words or phrases elicited, such as ‘blue,’ then we point to the
correct one. After repeating multiple
times in mixed order, we add a color and return to asking “what is this?” We continue adding and being tested until
there are 10-15 items. We record the
final ‘test’ to use for our own practice at home. So far we have learned colors, numbers, farm
animals, wild animals, insects, terms for people, and house parts all in this
manner. We aren’t saying them ourselves
at this time, just listening and pointing out the answer. This methods promotes better pronunciation
later and good auditory comprehension.
On Monday we
had a quite unusual language session. We
had one language tutor and lined up a second to begin on Monday so John and I
could trade off studying and watching the boys.
Our tutors have jobs of their own so our meeting times change from day
to day. On Monday, one of the tutors had
to postpone a morning session until the afternoon. So John and I met at the same time, taking
the boys with us to the center where John hopes to later work. Upon arriving we found out there was already
a class scheduled at the same time. So
the pre-scheduled class met in the one
class room, while John and I, our two tutors, and the boys met in the front
reception area at the same time two people arrived inquiring about the
center. The reception area is not air
conditioned, so with 9 people in a space about 12 x 18 feet it got pretty
hot. We eventually opened the front door
to let in some air, but that also let in the noise of all the vehicles passing
by. Instead of trying TPR with two
tutors and a lot of noise we asked for multiple dialogues from our tutors in
the local language, which turned out well thanks to a great microphone on our
recorder. Otherwise the session was very
chaotic and not very beneficial.
On another note,
last weekend we moved upstairs! Before
arriving we were expecting two bedrooms upstairs. One bedroom was ready this past weekend. We are all still in one room, but now there
is enough room for us to have our own beds!
There is also a great deal of room upstairs for the kids to run around.
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| Our new bedroom upstairs, big but slightly unfinished! |
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| Upstairs area, with a nook to later be enclosed for a second bedroom. |
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| The bathroom for two families. There is a sink, it is just outside the bathroom door. The blue tub seems only to be used to store water if needed. |
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| The kitchen and washing machine/area at the far end. There is a fridge next to the dish rack on the left. |
