This week was a busy one for me. So far in my graduate career, I haven't had much experience with midterms, but this semester has been different, and it's altered the course of my entire week, forcibly changing the times in which I normally study Kinyarwanda and, in some cases, altering the amount of time I'm able to spend with my target language. One of the first changes I made was to excuse myself from flashcard construction this week. Not only have I been trying to wean myself off spending a substantial amount of time creating (as opposed to studying) flashcards, I also have a large accumulation of flashcards built up, so I was able to spend my time on Quizlet purposefully. I spent approximately forty minutes per day with my flashcards, though I "cheated" a little, by including bus-time and waiting-for-class-to-begin time in that total.
I also continued engaging with audiovisual material in Kinyarwanda, namely genocide testimony. I watch each video once per day for five days, and over the course of the week, I try to determine what exactly I think the video is about. In the first viewing, I jot down a few notes with my preliminary guesses. The second time, I write down words I don't know; for those whose language skills fall at the beginners' level, I would recommend adding an additional step between the ones I've listed here, that is- write down the words you do know. It's a good confidence boost, and it will help you to feel more guided. Finally, over the next third to fourth viewings, I write a summary of the text (in English), and during the fifth viewing, I confirm my understanding by reading the video's English subtitles. This process usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes per day.
This week, I was supposed to continue engaging with source material from the Genocide Archive of Rwanda, which has some documents in Kinyarwanda, including local newspapers and magazines. One magazine, Isibo, is of particular interest to me, because it does not contain Hutu propaganda, which is often what is discussed in relation to pre-genocide news; instead, it was ran by the opposition, and its purpose was to expose and protest the government's hidden agenda. This week, however, I didn't feel I had adequate time to dedicate to these sources, so I opted for reading and analyzing Igihe instead. A while ago, I "liked" the news site on Facebook, and though I am usually able to scroll through my newsfeed with little event, I find that Igihe's posts often catch my attention, because most of the time, they are in Kinyarwanda. For instance, last semester, I found out "The Rock" was People's Sexiest Man in Kinyarwanda, before I even knew it in English. This week, I intentionally identified articles that I knew something about the content in English, so I could be more efficient with my reading time. This week, I tried to dedicated fifteen to twenty minutes per day to Igihe.
Finally, I posted two language lessons on my language-learning website. As usual, I have grand plans for my website, but I often don't feel I have the time to execute them properly. And though I enjoy constructing lessons for my website, just as I enjoy making flashcards for myself, I also recognize that such preparation likely falls into the category of planning, so I try to prioritize other language-learning activities for myself, by only allowing fifteen minutes per day for website construction.
Although I did not meet with fellow independent language-learners this week, we maintained conversation in our Facebook group, and one of my peers, L, gave me a little inspiration for an idea I'd like to try. She was put into a situation where she had to drive more than she expected this week, and she feared that it might cut into her language-study time, but then she remembered a mobile app that streamed radio stations in her target language, and she listened to them while in the car. She observed that she thought she retained more in so doing. As spring break is coming up, and with it, two long car rides (one to Michigan, and the other back to Wisconsin), I'm going to try to identify something I can listen to in Kinyarwanda during my journeys, just to determine if L's experience can be replicated. In addition, perhaps it will be the case that by scheduling some language-study during my "down time," I can feel better about the times in which I prioritize other work (e.g. midterms, [formerly] driving]). We'll see how it goes anyway!
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