This week, my concentration on
Kinyarwanda more so resembled language preparation than study. However, I still
managed to actively review my flashcards on Memrise, and in a more passive
manner, I played Kinyarwanda music on in the background when I was doing other
activities that did not require my full concentration. I am not sure if the
latter activity was completely effective, but I believe I can modify the
activity if it proves to be less useful than desired. For example, I can
eliminate the part where I am washing the dishes while Kinyarwanda music is
playing!
As for the preparation, I revised my
final assessment tool for this semester, and the primary component that I added
to the assessment was a rubric identifying what precisely qualified my
conversational goals as having been reached or not. Other aspects that I
included in the assessment were back-up plans for if and when my language
partner is not available to assess my conversational abilities, as well as my
understanding of proverbs and idioms in Kinyarwanda. Of course, these back-up
plans are not ideal, and I do not wish to repeat them in the future, but it
might be workable for now. Also, such an experience might be all the more
incentive to find a language partner while in Rwanda, as if I didn’t have one
already.
In addition, I have also been
thinking about my language study plan for the summer. Of course, I intend to
continue reviewing my resources, as well as locate practical applications for
my language knowledge, but I am beginning to think this “plan” sounds all too
vague, and I might need to craft an individualized study plan for the summer. Even
if it’s not as structured as the ones I have prepared for my semesters of
study, I think it would be useful to identify goals for my language use and
contexts in which I anticipate requiring additional language skills. This might
have to be developed as I go, from week to week, as I begin to recognize gaps
in my knowledge through interactions with colleagues at my internship site, but
a structure of some kind will do me some good, even if it’s just to look back
at and say “hey! I accomplished that!”
