Day 2

So the second time coming back to volunteer was a little less stressful because the people were familiar with me. I brought a few books with different pictures of everyday items and the words for them to help the family associate different objects and their meanings. The family seemed to all remember most of what we had went over the time before. There was a few words they had to go over again but it definitely seems like they are learning the english words. We sat on the floor again, in a circle and went over the previous material and then started working with flash cards. I was there for a little over 2 hours and we all just repeatively went over the material. It is kind of different teaching adults english by using childrens books but it does seem to be pretty effective. I am getting a lot more comfortable being there and I am getting more and more ideas as to what to bring to the next voluteer time that could really benefit the family in learning the english language. I am hoping that eventually I can get the family to start using their english for common everyday communication between myself and others they interact with on a day to day basis. I think the next visit, I may try to see if we can go to the store to teach the english words on a lot of items considering buying food and knowing how to ask where something is, is vital, especially for a family that has little kids.

Service Learning 1 with World Relief

Today was my first service learning with world relief. I met with a family, I believe is from Nepal or a similar asian country. The family hardly spoke any English, except for one of the kids. When I first arrived, I was surprised that where they lived was so run down. They lived in the basement, where there were no windows. Inside there was barely anything in the house except a couple chairs and a couch and of course beds. They had an activity book that had english and anglo-koran, their language, that had basic descriptions of body parts and average items you would have in a household. We all sat around the table and I went over the different things in the book and pronouncing them slowly so they could repeat it back to me correctly. We did that for about a half hour. Then we worked on counting and the ABC's in english. Kelly and Anna showed up a bit later and we all moved to the living room. There we sat on the floor and showed them flash cards with different items people would own and had them say the english words for them. We had them review different items and body parts and asked them what each one was called to see if they remembered. We also went over money, what each one looks like and the value of them. The kids were really into it and were laughing and having a good time. The adults seemed a bit confused and werent sure about some of what we went over but I believe they were getting the hang of it. I really enjoyed working with this family. They were very friendly and eager to learn english. I can't wait for the next service. I definitely know what I can bring the next time to further help them learn the english language. I can already tell that after my required service is done, I will be volunteering to continue to work with them.

Pre-Service Learning with World Relief

I don't know what to expect. I have had many interactions with people from different cultures. I hope to gain from this experience, a new and better understanding of different cultures. I would also hope to make some new friends in the process. My initial reaction to this entire idea was that I don't have time for this, I work a full time job, go to school full time, have a wife and a life outside of all of that and seeing as how it is a 200 level course, this as a requirement seemed quite ridiculous to me. However, the idea has grown on me, mainly because I have enjoy working with refugees and I am always interested in learning about their time here in America and all the stories they have in this country and their home country. I think this will be a fantastic experince and I have made time to be able to do this on the weekends. I can't wait to see how it goes!