Week Six: A New Wind

I feel compelled to open this blog entry by stating that I haven't felt as if I were in a linguistic slump, as if my language-learning had hit a brick wall, as if I were falling behind in my expectations for myself. I have not felt dismayed, disappointed, or dejected- this semester, at least. All the same, however, recently, I feel as though my language-learning has been accelerated, rejuvenated, been exposed to a "new wind."

This week, I've continued working with Quizlet, trying to minimize my flashcard construction to twenty minutes per day and maximize my study time to forty minutes per day. If I slip, however, and construct past the twenty minute mark, I make myself study double the amount I spend constructing. This is *not* a punishment, but instead a commitment. Indeed, if there are so many words to study, and I wish to spend time making flashcards to study, then I should be studying them. I mentioned last week that I would try to study in front of my family, during my visit home. First, I tested the waters by describing my flashcards to my grandma. I told her that a lot of my photos for "People" or "Family and Friends" came from my cousin's wedding, and I showed her how I marked-up the images to show relationships. She seemed to appreciate that I could incorporate both of my "worlds"- family and school/research- into one.

Also, I took it as an opportunity to tell her a little about the language. Both my grandpa and grandma were interested to know that there are different words for a family member based on who is speaking (Mawe- my mother, Mama- the mother or maternal aunt of the person speaking, Nyoko- the mother of the person being spoken to, and Nyina- the mother of another person). Grandpa thinks it would be hard to keep it straight, and admittedly, I've had to get very creative in my flashcard use. Later, however, when we got together for the baby shower that I visited home to attend, I was pointing to people and saying what their relationship would be to me or who they are in Kinyarwanda (only loud enough for those around me to hear), and grandpa was chiming in and saying what he thought I was saying in English. Although I don't think he'd say it in so many words, I think he's interested in what I do, even if he doesn't understand it all the time, and I think he's proud of me, which makes me want to be better. All that is to say practicing my language in front of family was a successful activity, and I'd like to do it more, so it is not so abstract to them.

Before I visited home for the weekend, I worked on my language-learning website. Inspired by one of my classmates, L, who is making a sincere effort to make her website for Luganda learners more interactive, I poked around mine to see what I could do to improve upon mine. Although my professor, Dr. T, has made suggestions in the past, I've often felt too intimidated by advanced software, because I am no computer whiz. This week, however, I learned how to embed my Quizlet flashcards into my language-learning website, so next week, I'd like to work on ways to incorporate them. Many of my flashcards are specific to me, insofar as they contain photos of my family and friends, so I have made them private; however, I'm thinking of creating additional ones for public consumption. Last week, I worked on my language-learning website for about thirty minutes on Monday through Thursday, but I was unable to make time over the weekend. Similarly, I made eight to ten contributions to Google Translate Monday through Thursday, because I knew I wouldn't be able to over the weekend. As I've noted previously, I enjoy contributing to these online Kinyarwanda resources, not only because teaching another is a helpful way to cement my own language knowledge, but also because it is a material way to measure my own progress.

In addition, I continued working with genocide testimony, this time, Monday through Friday, approximately twenty minutes per day.

With that said, however, I didn't produce much language myself this week, either in print or for recorded monologues. I'll try to improve upon this for next week. One of my classmates, K, asked me if I intended to publish my audio(visual) monologues. I explained to her that I did, at one point, include monologues with my blog posts, but after a while, I found it to be an anxiety-producing activity. Now, I believe it might hold me accountable to committing to them. No promises yet, but Kinyarwanda-videos forthcoming (maybe)!

Finally, my Kinyarwanda presentation proposal was accepted for World Languages Day, and I was told, by the organizer, W, that it will be the first time Kinyarwanda is on the program. So, that's exciting, but more importantly, it will give me something to prepare for, as well as provide me an opportunity to measure my own progress/knowledge by teaching others (again)!

Week Five: Motivators

            This week, I continued to work on my flashcards; however, as I feel I have a pretty solid base on which to grow, I have cut back my “construction” time to twenty minutes and increased my study time to at least forty minutes per day. Of course, I believe this is a practical approach, particularly as my flashcard “deck” grows, but I also believe it was a way to address a problem I mentioned last week, that is- I was concerned I was spending more time on preparatory work than I was actually studying. Now, I am quantifiably spending more time studying my flashcards than I am preparing them.

            In addition, I continue to watch genocide testimony videos for approximately twenty minutes per day, and I think that is going very well, insofar as it ensures that I am listening to Kinyarwanda being spoken by a diverse assortment of speakers on a weekly basis. Although a language partner is more than useful, I am sure some language learners grow accustomed to their partner’s particular accent and ways of speaking. With these videos, I am exposed to a wider range of speakers than I believe I would otherwise have access to.

            I am still contributing to Google Translate, with at least five terms per day, but as a more meaningful contribution, I am working on increasing the rate at which I publish Kinyarwanda lessons on my language-learning website. This week, I published two, one on the far future tense and another on the imperative. I also left a space to talk about the near-near future tense, as well, a lesson I have been developing, but do not find suitable for publication yet. I am also trying to return to lessons I have already constructed and improve them, if and when possible. I try not to spend more than a half-hour per day on this activity, but working on my website makes me feel good about myself, so sometimes I slip. Granted, if it makes me feel productive, I could argue that I should keep doing it, as long as I would like, but it is time-consuming, and my energy is probably best spent on a variety of meaningful activities (some I’m already doing and others I have yet to locate).

            Last week, I decided to start recording myself speaking Kinyarwanda, for practice, for motivation, for confidence. So far, I feel a bit silly doing it, and there are many more pauses than I would like. Admittedly, I am out of practice, but perhaps in the future, I will make these recordings more guided, as if I were speaking to a language partner. For instance, I could pose a topic that I have to talk about, list a few terms that I have to mention, and/or identify verb tenses or structures I’d like to practice out loud. The last suggestion feels a little inorganic, but maybe speaking to one’s recorder is a little unnatural too. Anyway, I’m still trying to locate what works for me in this regard.

            Last week, too, I met with fellow language learners, and one of my classmates, L, shared a story about her visit with her mother and grandmother. She knew she had to make room for her target language, but she also wanted to spend time with her family, so she gave them two options: 1.) She could go to another room to listen to the radio in her target language, or 2.) She could stay in the same room and listen. Their pick! And I guess they decided to have her stay in the same room, which turned out to be a very meaningful exercise for L, because it led to a few questions on her family’s part, identification of vocabulary, and the need for her to be extra-attentive in order to address their inquires and observations. Of course, this was an organic activity for her, but she said that she thought of me, due to the difficulty I mentioned studying at home in front of my family.

            Inspired by L, and presented by an opportunity to visit home this weekend, I am going to study Kinyarwanda in front of my family, likely my grandma, but perhaps my mother too. On a more interesting note regarding family and motivation surrounding my Kinyarwanda study, I intend to visit Kigali for at least a month this summer, and my mother expressed interest in visiting me while I am there. Granted, many things will have to fall into place for this to work, including her finances, my finances, my schedule, her schedule, but I am imagining scenarios where I would have to speak Kinyarwanda on her behalf or explain something to her from Kinyarwanda, and these imagined scenes are proving to be quite the motivator for me. Indeed, it is one thing to use a target language to help yourself; it is quite another to use it to help someone else, notably a loved one.

            Finally, I also purchased a few new Kinyarwanda resources this week, including an English-French-Kinyarwanda dictionary. It is not the best, nor is any Kinyarwanda-English dictionary I have found thus far. Indeed, it is only columns of words. Depending on where you are in the text, column A is French, column B is English, and column C is Kinyarwanda, and the order is rearranged based on user preference. I thought it might encourage me to study both French and Kinyarwanda at once, but so far, so nothing. Hopefully, that can be improved upon, as I’ve owned it only a short time. I’m imaging flashcards with words in French on one side and words in Kinyarwanda on the other.

In addition, I purchased a Kinyarwanda-English Alice in Wonderland coloring book (which, oddly enough, does not credit Lewis Carroll), but it disappointed my expectations as well; however, I don’t want it to be a complete “bust,” so I’m trying to think of meaningful activities for it beyond “adult coloring,” which is apparently a thriving market now!

Week Four: To Speak or Not to Speak (That is Not the Question)

            This week, I continued working on producing and studying my flashcards. I still aim to complete thirty minutes of each activity, but if, for example, I spend forty minutes modifying flashcards, I challenge myself to spend forty minutes studying my flashcards. Too often, I think I’m wrapped up in preparatory work- preparing study materials, applying for funding, or planning a trip-, and though these activities certainly help me to study, and they are, indeed, necessary, they do not constitute studying in and of themselves. So, I’m trying to push myself to make sure that the act of studying is my primary activity each week, even if it means carving out more time to do so.

            In addition, I continue to watch genocide testimony videos. The process is extended throughout the week, and I try to spend at least twenty minutes per day with audiovisual sources. I have also been working on contributing terms and phrases on the burgeoning Google Translate page for Kinyarwanda. I try to measure my productivity in this area, not by time spent, but by the amount of contributions I provide, which is usually five per day, though more are welcome, if I am feeling particularly ambitious. As I mentioned last week, I decided to try to work on content for my language-learning website throughout the week, saving it in a Word document until it is ready to be posted, for about an half-hour per day. So far, so good!

            Finally, I did not meet with a language partner this week, but I did compose an email message in Kinyarwanda to send to a Kinyarwanda speaker. Hopefully, I will get back on the ball next week. Speaking in a foreign language has always been a source of anxiety for me, and, unfortunately, I too often allow myself to be consumed by it.

Repeat after me: Lower your affective filter. “Do, or do not. There is no try.” As a potential working solution to my speaking problem, I think I will start recording myself speaking again (for as little as five minutes), perhaps not for the purpose of display (though perhaps one day), but just for me to prove to myself that I am doing it. I can speak Kinyarwanda, and perhaps by speaking to myself for myself, I will be more encouraged to speak to others.

In the meantime, however, do my blog readers have any advice as to how to lower affective filters in regard to speaking?

Week Three: Finding and Doing What Works

            This week, I continued to work on constructing my new-and-improved flashcards, but I made sure not to occupy my time exclusively in that way. Although I recognize that they are not done, I began to review the ones that are completed. It’s definitely a different experience from what I’m used to, and it might take some adjustment, but I’m enjoying it thus far. Already, I can detect that using personal pictures does make all the difference. For example, when I see my friend David in a picture, I’m not thinking of him as a young, unmarried man (as I would if it was a general stock picture). Instead, I’m thinking “David ni umusore,” not “umusore is a young, unmarried man.” In addition, last week I mentioned that for the less concrete terms, I would use Kinyarwanda clues. So far, that is going well too. In some cases, the clues aren’t as necessary (and could probably be eliminated). In other cases though, they are very useful. I try to spend thirty minutes a day creating new flashcards, and thirty minutes a day studying “old” ones. Sometimes, it is more than thirty minutes, but I work to ensure that it is never less.

            In addition, I began watching Rwandan genocide testimony videos again. I try to watch each source multiple times. The first viewing, I just watch it, perhaps jotting down a few notes. The second time, I write down words that I know. The third time, I write down words that I do not know, and I look them up. The fourth time, I attempt to write a summary. The fifth time, I confirm my understanding by directing my attention to the video’s English subtitles. This process takes at least twenty minutes per day, as I often spread each viewing out across the days of the week.

            I have also been working on contributing terms and phrases to the burgeoning Google Translate for Kinyarwanda. I try to produce at least five terms per day, but if I am really feeling productive, I allow myself to spend a little more time there, often at least fifteen minutes per day. I like being made to feel that I am contributing something to Kinyarwanda language learners, and, not surprisingly, I enjoy contributing to my language-learning website, but I am often torn, because to do my language-learning website right, I feel more time needs to be spent there than I am able to commit weekly. Indeed, I find discussing one concept (e.g. verb tense) often makes me aware of a crucial gap in my language lessons (e.g. adverbs), and I want to talk about them all and right now. Furthermore, I want to do better than I have been at discussing the concepts I am, but that also takes time. Perhaps something new to try would be dedicating a half hour (or so) per day developing my website. It may start to look better, which will make me feel better, if not more productive and knowledgeable. Often, when constructing a lesson, I attempt to do it in one sitting, but taking my time may, ironically, make me feel as if I am being more efficient.

            Last week, I meet with my fellow independent language-learners, and though we occasionally drifted off topic (with the current state of our country), L said something truly profound. Indeed, when expressing guilt over her Quizlet use, she observed that we should probably spend less time doing what we thought we should be doing, and spend more time on what works. To this, I can say, “I’m trying! I’m really trying!”