I am learning SO MUCH here that I am having a hard time processing and retaining it all! We've only been here a few days, but already I have been exposed to countless new things and my mind has been flooded with facts about the history, culture, social norms, government issues, the dynamics of various organizations, stories bout the people we've met, and the language, to the point that I don't even know where to begin...
This week is primarily orientation for us so, while we've been visiting a host of projects and learning more about what we'll be doing, we have yet to plunge too far into the work itself. Today was our third Khmer language class- which I am so grateful we've been provided with!! From 8-10 each morning we are in the classroom and our patient teacher instructs us and patiently listens as we butcher his language. Though it's only basics, we are definitely learning! What reinforces it all the more is that from 10-12 we go out in the city and have opportunities to practice as well as learn more about the country.
MONDAY: Learned greetings and introductions. Went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (post to come for there is far too much to include here) and talked with tour guides & maintenance workers.
TUESDAY: Learned numbers and daily expressions. Meandered the market again and successfully bargained with sellers.
WEDNESDAY: Learned directions and names of places within the city. Hailed a tuk-tuk and guided our graciously tolerant driver to the National Museum which was full of ancient temple relics.
It's strange though because in my attempts to rack my brain to avoid English, suddenly my mind comes up with words I didn't even know I knew and haven't thought of in years, such as Spanish words I learned in high school, Tagalog phrases from three summers ago, and random words from German, French, and Italian---none of which are languages I know.
It's been exciting to learn and I'm feeling more acclimated with each word; but at the same time it is frustrating: frustrating both because I'm a slow learner and because the language barrier will not be easily broken. You can only get so far in a conversation with "Hello, how are you?" "What's your name?" "Where are you from?" "How much is this?" "Turn left!" and "See you tomorrow!" I wish I could just instantly KNOW a language and though this is not realistic for our short time here, it only further inspires me to want to be in a place long term.
On the flipside, somehow word seeped out that I want to be an English teacher back home, and despite the fact that this term has a completely different connotation here, I've been recruited to teach the teachers the English language. Though I've had some experience in tutoring ESL, I was intimidated by the prospect of this and felt totally ill-equipped and inadequate to teach our Khmer teachers, especially when their English is already so good.
However, I've met with them (6-7 teachers all between the ages of 21-27) three times now and it's been wonderful! They are really looking to practice conversational English, expand their vocabulary, and improve pronunciation so we've had opportunities to go through the newspaper and discuss current events, explain various cultural things to one another, and just share about ourselves. I feel like I may very well learn far more than they do... I'm really excited though because this small group will end up being those I can get to know better and actually build a relationship with as our conversations can progress beyond by severely limited Khmer.
No comments:
Post a Comment