First Go Around.

To be completely honest; upon my arrival at the apartment complex in Moline my first Saturday working with the World Relief organization, I was very nervous and was not sure what to expect. I had all sorts of thoughts running through my mind; was the family going to be friendly, welcoming, speak any English, would they be willing to learn to learn from someone younger than themselves, like myself, without feeling discouraged or distant? I was about to find out. As Kelly, Cody and myself made our way to the families room, I was finding myself excited for what lie ahead. Kelly informed us that we would not be working with a family, but rather a group of three men who had recently moved to America from Burma. It took a few minutes and hard knocks to the door before they answered, we learned they were still in bed although it was already 10 in the morning. Each of us worked one on one with the men. I started off having my man read a couples books to me, we then went through flash card pictures. I also quizzed him on a book with pictures and descriptions of items and daily activity scenarios around the house and public places such as the bank or grocery store. Finally we worked on math skills, going through addition and subtraction flash cards, and showing him different coins allowing him to tell me how much I had or how much I needed in order to make a dollar. I realize that two hours is a long time to focus and work on a task in general, but I could tell he was getting frustrated with himself. When he forgot what something meant that we had just discussed, he would cover his eyes and shake his head which tells me he is in the culture shock stage. It was hard to know when to give him the answer or how long I should let him search his brain for the answer. He knew how to read words very well, but knowing the meaning behind them was a different story. When reading the books, he could easily read to me, but upon asking him what it was he had read about, he could not explain. He had the phonological and syntactic aspect of language down, but had not yet mastered the semantic and pragmatic aspects. Language is more differentiated and interpretive than numbers across cultures which is part of the reason he picked up on math quicker than the language itself. Knowing this, next time I meet with the guys, I am going to emphasize meaning and focusing on whether they know what they are saying or if they are just unconsciously reading what is in front of them.