Through our friend Novee, we were invited to come and meet Jay & Jennie who opened the center. Jennie is a English instructor. They had a really good program - well prepared.
So Nick & I got a "refreshment" course (and I mean REFRESHED!!!!) on verbs, nouns, prefixes, suffixes, propositions etc! Some of these descriptive words I have NOT heard in ages!!! I was never too great in English grammar! Spelling maybe but not the breaking down of what each word is in a sentence!
First, we did a fun game..an "ice breaker"....as they call it.....are you familiar with it?
We started with filling many cups with mixed colored M&M candy...and the jest of the game was to decide on a color you would like to collect and stick with it...say ...RED - Okay - then you go around the room and ask people questions...doesn't matter what - but ask them something about themselves....and when they answered your question you receive 1 Red M&M from their cup and then in turn they ask you a question too...and they tell you what color they are collecting...once you give them the
color of their choice - then you both go
to another person to ask a question and
collect "your" color and then before you know it..
you have asked many questions to many
people - you end up with hopefully the same color
in your cup...as you can see in my case...I did not ask enough questions to the people who chose "brown" because I was so preoccupied & focused on getting my Red color - yes ... I asked 7 people QUESTIONS but forgot to go to someone who was collecting brown ones to get rid of them ...ha! Anyway - Exciting right?
Well it was definitely an ice breaker... and of course all these questions were spoken in English - so it forced everyone to speak a language that they only had learned in class!
We had a snack break and heard that Yefkris sings so we all encouraged him to share his voice with us.....
Yefkris - (pronounced Jeff Chris)
Wow - did he have a good voice! We heard him sing a very beautiful melody in Indonesian.
What...with all those words????
The group decided to try to figure out what that sentence might be....Joy, Yefkris and Bowo - Nick & I straining the brain to form sentences from all the words out of the envelope....little by little doing a lot of shuffling - we all at once saw it...!
"ah hah" moment! Our group won a prize because the one sentence was figured out! Way to go you guys!
The other couple that helped was a wonderful family from Brazil - traveling with their sons Alex & Andre for a few months to Myanmar (previously called Burma) and here in Indonesia! How exciting to share it with their sons - both college students! Nick & I just love meeting and making new friends...and to hear the stories of their travels!
But listen to this one.......They told us a story about the town they live in Brazil called "Americana" and would you believe it.... they shared a story about it that I had NEVER heard!!!!!! - both Nick & I can't recall learning this at school from our history books...how about you????
The story is like this : during the civil war days, when the Confederates (the South) had lost the war to the North - well 5000 southern families left America to settle elsewhere! They choose Brazil and started a new life there!!! Bringing with them their American traditions & dance, and food etc.
Americans in Brazil - Americana, Brazil please click on this link to read up on it! I DID! Pretty interesting to read! I don't recall this American history at all from my school years...did you????
Anyway - just a tidbit of information from the above story and the link about a town called Americana!
So the whole morning was all about - having conversation - all of us have learned a foreign language in our school days...but "conversation" is the key....you gotta be out there talking "the talk!" to learn to speak it correctly and clearly!
We finished up the morning, the students left and we - the gang all went out to lunch together!
It was a great morning and we really look forward to meeting again next week!
Doing conversational English makes a difference all right! The students felt more confident when they finished the 4 hour session.
Oh - Nick & I KNOW that feeling all right and experience it everyday....we HAVE to go to the stores and shops and we have to speak the language to connect...and the more we do it - well it helps & gets a wee bit easier! At times it is overwhelming when you need something and with hand signals - some Dutch words/(ha!) picking at words we think we know in Indonesian...we struggle...we laugh....we somehow do what we can...each day...to get our thought across...oh my!!!!
I "forced myself" the other day to go alone next door to our neighbor (who had invited me to come) and sit down in their house and try to communicate with them. Because of the foreigners staying here in the kampung, Pak Jono & Kasum have picked up 'some' English words here and there. I tried very hard to connect with them...and tried to listen well...and pronounce the sounds & expressions correctly! Oh my....I got so hot trying...I was forced sitting there in the room with them...in a situation like that...and this girl was "chicken woman" by that invitation..you understand? But after an hour with them...(they were so very patient with me...sweethearts...truly!) I felt a little more confident walking home.....and very thankful for their kindness to help this American! ha!
At times I have to chuckle and just laugh....hand signals, trying to sound out some really hard to pronounce words with sounds I have not made or spoken before. Nick, on the other hand surprises me - he speaks those sounds out really well...he heard his mother speaking Javanese when he was growing up! He has a "knack' for the language I think!
Well my lesson with my neighbors went something like this:
Selamat Sore! Good afternoon!
Bagaimana Kabar How are you?
Baik Good!
Anda tinggal di mana Ellen? You live where Ellen?
Saya tinggal di Jl Antasena nomer duapuluh tiga A.
I live on Street Antasena number 23A
Anda berasal dari mana? You originally from where?
Saya berasal di Blanda. I originally from Holland.
Ke mana pergi hari pagi Ellen? Where are you going this morning E?
Hari pagi saya di Toko Buku Kasum. This morning I go to Store Book (book store), Kasum.
Bagaimana banyak anak-anak punya anda Ellen? How many children have you Ellen?
Saya punya dua laki-laki Kasum. I have 2 sons Kasum.
Very very simple Indonesian - as you can tell...but still...little by little trying to form sentences.
Oh well - a Day at a time! Tomorrow is a new Day!
Good night - sleep tight dear family and friends!
God Bless You!
Tuhan Memberkati!
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