Who is teaching whom seems more appropriate for my tutoring
session with Ghadeer and Ayaha during today's lesson. We played the Scrambled States Game but unlike the two children who played with
me earlier, these adults had questions and lots of pronunciation issues. Connecticut became Con -ect-eecut, Montana's capital
became Hell-en-ie, the list went on and on as we continued to run through the
various states. How would you know where
to put the accent? It reminded me of the name Cairo, Georgia which is
pronounced totally differently from Cairo, Egypt though they are spelled the
same. You just have to know the word
from hearing it spoken by a regional native speaker.
The game was a success for them. They enjoyed learning new states, looking at
the map and learning about the United States.
The setting afforded me an opportunity to teach them some new
word too. Maine is the "Pine Tree
State" and though they are surrounded by pine trees here in Tallahassee,
they did not know what a pine tree was.
I was pleased they enjoyed the game and session, but I learned a few
lessons myself about the English language and how difficult it can be for
others to learn it.
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