I got into an interesting discussion with several of my co-workers about American accents. We were discussing the differences in language throughout the Philippines and one co-worker stated that she sometimes has trouble understanding certain Americans at all and that this one couple sounded really strange to her. We came to the conclusion that the persons accent may have been what was confusing. I downloaded several recordings of Maine, Boston, Jersey, Southern, Jamaican and other accents and played them at my office. My co-workers were fascinated and also thought that they were hilarious. We also talked about certain words that are really used only in certain areas such as y'all and wicked.
One particular co-worker and I often get into conversations regarding homonyms in English. For example, "whether" and "weather." This often leads to confusion on my part as I try and explain the proper use and meaning of each one. With my English level rapidly falling as I try to learn Tagalog this can be very difficult, I often second guess myself. We also discussion Tagalog words that have the same spelling but different stresses and meanings. For example, "puno" which can mean both tree and full. Its confusing.
At one of my CAR sessions I have broken the children up into two groups according to their level of education. I am directly working with some of the older children covering things like basic equations, powers and square roots. Funny thing is is that I am covering these areas at their request! One of the boys stated that he really liked math and that he was actually getting what I was teaching and asking to cover different areas. Unfortunately, the center that I work at is just a temporary center and three out of five of the older children have already left to go back to their families, including the boy. Everyone at the center was very upset when they left. One of the older children that is still at the center is a deaf girl. We have been practicing American sign language together. Even though she is a Pilipina born and raised in the Philippines she does not speak any Tagalog because she only learned American sign language. She is great but she too will be leaving to go to a blind and deaf school in Narra which is south of Puerto Princesa. I am sad but it is hopefully for the best!
As promised, LEECHES!! or ang mga LIMATIC!!!
4 comments:
You are making a difference Matt! Those children will remember you forever, and you have opened doors that they did not even know existed. It is hard to let go, but know that you have changed the way they dream...
Hey you are learning two languages, Tagalog and ASL lol! I would love to be a fly on the wall for your discussions of linguistics, that is stuff I LOVE! Can't wait to hear more about that!
As for the disgusting leech video, high grossness factor...
LoveMom,Dad,Ad
Hi matt and krystal! Matt asked me to comment in Filipino. I usually use English when talking to Matt in the office but there comes a point that I run out of English words so, I use Filipino instead. Matt always tell me to speak "dahan-dahan" which means "to speak slowly". I hope he would understand this one.
Si Matt ay matiyaga magturo sa mga bata sa group home center. Lahat ay gustong-gusto sya. Si Matt ay mabait, palakwento, at maraming ideas na binabahagi. Natutuwa ako sa mga ping-uusapan namin halos araw-araw. Nagpapalitan kami ng ideas tungkol sa kultura namin. Napaka-ganda pag-usapan ang kultura lalo ang kasaysayan nito. Interesado kaming dalawa tungkol dito.
Matt, i'll let you do the translation, ok? hoping you'll be fine afterwards. ;)
Hello Matt,
It so funny you should be taking about the New England accent. Tourist always comments on mine. I tend to leave out a lot of R’S in my words.
Wow, I am impressed how you cater to the individual needs of your students. What great teaching skills you have. It must be frustrated to see them leave when there is so much you want to teach them. But truly it only takes ONE TEACHER to change a child’s life.
Leeches! As Krystal about the pond/swamp she and her cousins engaged in. Peace to you both and stay safe. Love MumC.
That pond/swamp Carol is talking about was when we lived at Country Club Lane and the relatives were up. We went on one of our many adventures and ended up froggin (turtles/snakes too if we can). Krystal was so good at catching frogs and just about anything else. That day, we all had leeches all over us and did not realize it till we got home. Nobody really freaked out about it. Krystal alway got into it no matter how deep or how mucky. She sure has alot of stories about that, don't ya sissa!
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