Week Fifteen: Language Study/Preparation

            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!”