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Hello, Friends.
Temperatures fell this week. On at the beginning of the week, we could not imagine cold weather, and overnight we went from upper 80s to mid 60s. We grabbed pants and long sleeves and felt a little embarrassed to be surprised by the weather change. Fall officially hit the calendar on Tuesday at 8:05 PM. In my backyard, the trees started dropping leaves and I had to acknowledge that my dog knows more than I do since he has been blowing his coat for a while now.
Singlish
Singing helps with so many aspects of language learning.
If you are asked to recite these words in order, it is difficult. Remembering (not memorizing) strings of somewhat nonsensical or whimsical words can be difficult to impossible. Set the words (or sounds) to music, and suddenly it becomes easy (try this with spelling an unusual word).
Music matches intonation and cadence of American English. Listen to the radio and different types of songs: country, rap, easy listening. Notice how the words are rushed or drawn out. Your pronunciation and listening skills will blossom.
E Words to Explain Learning
We found new 'E" words to add to our description of adult learners as Efficient, Effective, Elegant.
- Efficient: adults make split second decisions about what is important to know and is necessary
- Effective: adults practice learning every day and maturity and practice focus what they are learning and help with applying and incorporating what they know into life situations
- Elegant: adults are graceful and stylish with their learning, it is part of their life
We are adding:
- Exposure: adults need to make contact with or see a need for learning something--it is second nature (but maybe not natural) to learn isolated facts without necessity
- Experience: adults draw on what they have seen and done as part of what they learn, remember, or save. They may overlook something because they filter
Acronyms
Do we say "na-sah" or pronounce the letters individually as N A S A? Acronyms are pronounced as words whereas initialisms are pronounced as individual letters. The List of Common Acronyms is great for efficient and effective understanding of this topic. What do you notice about these pronunciations?
Accent or Pronunciation
This is a super interesting and hair-splitting topic for language geeks. We all have accents here in the U.S. Keep speaking, listening, observing, and practicing.
International Friends Meeting Notes
International Bible Study: Monday, 8-9:00 PM, Zoom
Numbers 4 -5. One Friend has a concurrent study that highlights the words restoration, reconciliation, and restitution as the themes of these chapters. Numbers 4 continues to describe structure, materials, processes and procedures, and to identify the people who are responsible for the work and the dire consequences when the processes are not followed.
Numbers 5 begins with a recap for causes for people to be "'put outside the camp" which include leprosy, has a discharge, or has touched a dead body (details can be found in Leviticus 13-15 as well as cleansing and return to the community) .
Numbers 5 continues with rules and processes for wives that commit adultery or are accused of committing adultery. Included in this discussion are the rules and processes for husbands who are jealous of their wives. Human jealousy is described with envy, strife, and leads to sinful behavior which harms the relationship between the couple as easily as infidelity.
Contrast this with the jealousy of God (Exodus 34: 14) which is motivated by love, protection, and zeal. God's love and protection would turn His people to Him not to another god.
September 28: Continue the story with Numbers 6-8. There is always a group of people who make their rules to serve God that is divergent from the rest of the people. The Nazarites are the These chapters outline how God xxx differing community opinion and then provides space for them to move back into the general society.
Spoiler: Chapters eight opens with verses about establishing seven lamps. Revelation 1: 12 foreshadows the seven lamps as the seven churches that propel the good news to all the ends of the earth.
As you read this week, remember that "scripture interpreters scripture".
American English Language and Culture: Thursday, 9:00-11:00 AM, Zoom
We began this meeting with a detailed discussion about the word "board" (and not "bored"). This led to talking about meeting language and rules of order and the roles and responsibilities of the president and others. Formal words signaling the beginning and end of a discussion keep the meeting from becoming heated and keeps the meeting moving.
We talked at length decoding the differences in pronunciation and accent including where the emphasis is placed in a word. Written representations of pronunciation is not the simple as breaking the word into syllables. Learn more here: Decoding & Encoding: What Are the Differences?
Simply looking up the word can help. Understanding how this representation differs from syllables can be helpful in understanding what someone is saying from both speaking and listening (are lit-tle and lid-dle the same word? See the further discussion on this in the evening meeting notes).
Miriam Webster on word dividing
No, the conventions for dividing a word at the end of a line of text and the conventions for dividing a word into phonetic syllables are not the same, and as a result a headword and its pronunciation may show different divisions. The centered dots/points in a headword—which are chiefly determined by considerations of morphology (the study of word formation, as by inflection, derivation, and compounding) and of pronunciation—indicate the places where it can be broken if all of the letters will not fit at the end of a line. They do not necessarily show syllable division (which is the common misconception); they are simply potential points of end-of-line division. Syllabication of a word is indicated by the hyphens found in the word's pronunciation, where they exist as aids to the pedagogical command of "sound it out."
October 1: Prepare an acceptance speech. Be specific. Include gratitude but not platitude. Take a picture and e-mail it to indyintlfriend@gmail.com or message/text Carolyn.
American English Language and Culture: Thursday, 7:00 -8:30 PM, Room 102, Cornerstone Lutheran Church-Carmel
The night meeting was so much fun! What is the difference between a CNA and an MA. We read the AI description to cement a career decision choice.
Listening and speaking are not always intuitive. We talked (a lot) about whether we need to pronounce the "t" like a "d" and if a British accent needs to be Americanized. Americans understand "little" with a "t' rather than the more common By the way, if the childcare staff speaks a different language, and your baby is spending eight hours or more of the day with those people, your baby's first language is the caregiver's.
The "natural" language this year is Berber but the "fall back" language is French. Our Friends learned British English in college. This makes for interesting conversations on translation and expectations since each language was learned at different stages in life.
Reading through an AI comparison of MA and CNA jobs and training provided us with the opportunity to fine-tune pronunciation. T's for D's (or not because that is an accent not a mispronunciation).
October 1: For our next meeting, create half page graphic for "home," or choose another idea/word to explore. Take a picture and e-mail it to indyintlfriend@gmail.com. or bring it to class.
American English for Kids: Friday, 8:00-8:30 PM, private Zoom
Talking about traveling to a city is a good way to talk about culture and explain daily life or a favorite place. This is another way of teaching. It also gives us a break from our daily life with a "virtual" holiday.
October 2: Prepare an itinerary for a trip to Kyoto. What to see, where to stay, how to get around.
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