Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Post-Charla

Hello Readers

A short update tonight because I am really in need of some beauty sleep. Last few days have been gruelling and I do not see them becoming more relaxing for three more weeks.

On Monday the Meriño group gave a group of twelve teachers a presentation on how to create, communicate, and implement a more effective system of rules in the classroom. I am in a group of very fluent Spanish speakers, and am the only one with lower than required Spanish, so I felt like the gloomy casual runner trying to keep pace with Usain Bolt and other world-class Olympians.

Despite that blow to my morale, I feel I did a very nice job on my speech. I just decided to work strictly within my abilities and not do a thing to veer away from what I knew I could do. So, I had my entire speech written out on a couple pieces of paper and memorized the whole thing. Then I could look up and give a very nice presentation, but still be able to check every now and then to make sure I was going to say the correct conjugation of a given verb, or get all the syllables into the ever-gory imperfect tense of a nosotros. Demonstrábamos. Most of Spanish is easier than German, but every now and then there is a word so long after it gets conjugated that I might as well be speaking in German again.

The good news was that after our presentation, the teachers were very motivated to create the chart we made for classrooms. Students can each have a little clothespin and they can move up or down the chart, and if all the students are on the "bien" side at the end of the day, there can be class-wide rewards. It is very neat and efficient and the teachers seemed to love it.

Today I went to watch another group give their presentation. They did a great job too. We are all going to be very effective and engaging volunteers once we've had our three months to settle into our communities, drink the coffee with gobs of sugar or tea (since I really do dislike the taste of coffee and can only endure it when I have it with too much sugar), and blather. I really want to have all the speaking practice I can get for those three months. I'll just need to befriend some children and their Doñas. Then I can speak in Spanish all day long and maybe within a month or two I'll be able to do it without feeling like my brain has melted by the end of the day.

Almost done with my Bob Marley tunes. I think I will sign off and get some sleep. Adios Amigos!!

The Dominican Wolf

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