Interests

Interests / Life — No Comments
5
Mar 10

Just Writing

I think that the huge lack of blog posts is due to my perception of nothing quite interesting going on here. Then I realize that the little day to day changes add up and eventually you have no clue what I’ve been up to!

Wednesdays at the American School:

I’ve been working at ASB (see “video update” post) every Wednesday in a sort of filler capacity. I get there at 9am and during the first period, I help a small group of third graders that need more practice with math. This involves playing quick-answer games and talking about shortcuts to answering some multiplication or addition problems they have had. The nice thing about kids is that anything is easily made into a “game.” In a group, have one kid throw a die and then a second kid across the table gets to throw one and between the two, they have to quickly say the correct answer. They’re so focused on being allowed to throw a die that they don’t realize they’re practicing math!

Then for the second period, I walk down to an adjacent building and walk a K5 class up to art and help the teacher during the class. Telling the kiddos “oh, very pretty!” for colouring in something completely. Things such as walking instead of running, and following a line still elude them however. I escort them back to the ECC building for their recess and I have a half hour break. I usually sit in the never-quiet library and read little bits of Steven Pinker’s The Language Instinct.

Then I help the librarian do random things until it’s time to take kindergarteners up from their story time to the cafeteria where I coerce them into eating at least half of their portions, sitting in their seats, and not touching other people’s food. Whew!

I’m known as a jack of all trades there by now because I seem to have been trained in just about everything. I file books, I know the catalogue system, how to check people in/out, and not to mention I’ve worked with almost every grade by now as well as worked in the office. I try to make myself as useful as possible to them. Although I came to teach, I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be doing any real teaching at the school so I’ll just do whatever they want to pay me for.

So, I don’t need to give you a rundown of the entire day. That’s how most of it goes. The remainder is more lunch duty, more library assisting, and an hour of watching the K5 class during snack time until their parents come around. Don’t be deceived. I have learned first hand that such simple tasks can be very tiring. I’m not a napping kind of guy, and I often fall asleep as soon as I get home on Wednesdays. The younger they are, the more of a handful they can be!

Speaking of which, I also get called in for other substitutions aside from my Wednesday assisting. Lately I have had K3 a few times. It’s getting a tad easier, but I admire the people that teach kindergarten as a profession, and couldn’t imagine dedicating myself to that every day of the week.

Substitutions I’ve done so far:

  • 6th grade Catalan
  • 4th grade Spanish
  • Kinder 3 (3/4 year olds)
  • Secretary
  • MAP (standardized test) proctor for a whole week
  • Librarian

Some of these were really fun (Catalan, Librarian), and some of them were hell (Spanish, MAP), but all-in-all I’m stashing it away as good experience.

So then, what do I do with myself outside of ASB?

I’ve been getting into reading again. I used to read a lot, and then I went to college and the last thing I felt like doing was reading (after all my class junk). Now with an abundance of free time and passing several days of doing nothing, I started to delve into books. Some for fun, some for learning, and some for exploring.

Stuff I’ve read since January:

In other news!

Actually, all of this stuff is “other news” for the reader, I just enjoy using h2 (heading formats) to keep your interest.

  • I learned to make coffee on the stove. Completely foreign to me.
  • I made paella and have had some other adventures in cooking with Jenn.
  • With this book and those dice I showed you in the previous post, I’ve learned to write in the Japanese script, Hiragana (except I don’t remember the R set very well).
  • I bought two new books: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb! Yay new books!
  • I got an email today about a possible teaching slot for two months, three hours, four days a week! Hopefully this plays out well for me.

I’ve included a lot of links this time. So enjoy your surfing if you wanted some book recommendations. Hope this sufficiently updates everybody!

In case you were wondering, I’m planning on being here until the end of June, and then who knows what. I’ve applied to schools in Costa Rica and I might look into Turkey as well. Although I intend to go back to school soon, I’ll need something to do for another year.

Donations welcome!

flickr pro gift Pro account! Mine is going to expire in a couple of days. This means that all of my HD videos on here will no longer be available and I won’t be able to post more until I renew. I don’t feel like spending $25 on it right now. So if you want to send me a non-birthday present, this is a good idea!

or of course… more Skype / external number subscription!

Interests — Comments Off
15
Nov 09

Spanish

Languages really. Languages are great. It’s the encoding used to get things from the “mental dimension” into physical space, to another person, and back into the “mental dimension.” I have a reason for that phrase, but that’s another entry. Why Spanish? Sorry, I have a lame answer for you: I was exposed to it, and thought I was good at it.

I don’t give myself much credit, so you won’t catch me claiming to be good at Spanish, but yes I think I had an affinity for it. My parents would rarely use it around me as a child in the same way that a monolingual household might encounter two adults s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g things out so the kids won’t comprehend it. I don’t have specific memories of this, but I recall a general urge or desire to speak whatever the heck it was they were using when I was little.

This was all reinforced with cultural items around the house and stories and slideshows from my Dad about living in Paraguay and elsewhere. When you get to the point in school where you can pick a second language if you want to learn one (it’s quite too late to begin, honestly, at thirteen) I obviously picked Spanish just as someone might pick their science fair topic to be on something their engineer parent knows about.

Like piano lessons and reading Steven Hawking to Steinbeck, it was the sort of scholastic thing that I enjoyed more than I thought someone my age really should, but didn’t think of actually devoting myself to it. Never paying much attention to Spanish, I was fascinated by science throughout the majority of my school life. Then came college, and I had to pick something I was good at to actually pay attention to. I suddenly shifted to Spanish.

The more I learned the more I loved.

It was a good choice, and in retrospect, maybe the worst way to go about learning it. At least at Grand Valley State University it was near pointless. The Spanish program seemed to follow a logical skeleton (reading, writing, culture courses, etc) but lacking in coordination and a real focus on fluency of the language. If you want to learn one, don’t waste your time in academics. Yes, it has the value of learning about culture, which I loved, and the grammar is useful if you want to teach it perhaps, but… just immerse yourself, take private (or small) courses with a heavy emphasis on conversation if you want to learn a foreign language.

Oh, here’s a thought:

Learning a language :: heating some food

University :: using a microwave (focused, the design is well engineered, yet in the end, soggy food)

Living off L2 movies, music, podcasts etc. :: boiling (useful to the point that it gets hot in the end, but really wet – or: can’t use it much)

Moving to a country that uses the L2 :: oven (perfect, a little slower, might require preheating, but it’s the best overall)

Apologies if you didn’t get any of that. Sometimes I think an analogy is just great, but poorly executed.

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That’s why I STUDIED Spanish, but why do I like it, and why stick with it?

I like how it sounds.

I like how it looks.

It’s simple (yet complex); almost elegant.

I think the same can almost be said for me and piano. That’s a kind of interesting self-observation. You might be able to identify if you play an instrument. It’s something that does require practice, but is enjoyable when you reach a good level. I am very critical of learning a foreign language in a university setting, but I must say that the literature of any language you want to learn is a beautiful medium to immerse yourself in. The downside might be when it is used as a principle method for teaching you.

I love Spanish. The end.