Wednesday 24 September 2008

More Teacher Speak

I love the little primary class I am in - I am observing the teacher and helping the kids who I notice are a bit stuck on something. Here are a some more words that I hear the teacher use often with the children:

Entendiste? Did you understand? (to one student)
Entienden? Did you understand? (to the class)
Terminaste?
Are you finished? (to one student)
Terminan? Are you finished? (to the class)
Puedes pegar en el libro Can you glue it in the book
Miren el libro, pagina ... Look at page ... in your book
Sentate bien! Sit down nicely, properly (that kind of thing)


I will note down the classroom rules and post them soon.

Nueva Oficina

I have a funny story - well we (Silvia y yo) think it is funny and I think you will too. I really hope its not one of those occasions where "you had to be there"...........
Whenever we have a break - Silvia y yo that is - we nip down to the fab cafe which is only five minutes walk away (and has very handsome waiters I might add) for a quick cafe con leche. Well, we always sit at the same table ... a little apart from most other tables so we can take up more room without disturbing others. Silvia usually sits on a bench seat so we can put down the monton of papers and books that we seem to carry around with us, and spread out using two tables, so we can mark childrens work and have professional discussion, as well as partake in the very fine cafe that the establishment offers - our very own little "office space away from the office" you might say!
Anyway, ayer (yesterday) someone was sitting in our seat - can you believe the cheek of it. We stood for ages (15 seconds) just looking in disbelief...we chose another very little table to sit at and before we even got sat down our 'usual' waiter came over and pushed the table next to us to join our table so we could have another office space - it was really very funny and then, as I was putting the papers together I asked if they had scissors that I could use - well, Silvia nearly fell on the floor laughing because that probably seemed quite cheeky. Well, I got my scissors and next time I might try for a stapler too :)
Once we got settled, the handsome waiter, instead of asking what we would like, (they have stopped bringing la carta (menu)), asked "would we like cafe con leche mas leche y medialunas dulces - we are that regular and predictable...its great!
Well, that was part of our day at the office...made us smile, and provided a chuckle during the remainder of the day as well. I will take my camera next time and take a photo to post down the side.
My job now is translate all that into castellano.

Monday 8 September 2008

Teacher Speak

What would I do without Pablo - a true godsend! I have not been able to get into any Spanish classes in the school that I work in, but Pablo last week organised it for me - so for the last couple of months of the school year I will hopefully learn alot from the Spanish teachers. Today was my first day and I loved it. The children were 6 turning 7 and of course their English is better than my Spanish but they will be a big help for me. I will learn alot from the teacher about teaching, and lots of new vocabulary from the children.

Here are some of my 'teacher speak' observations from today:
Que ti parece? What do you think
Que dice? Que dice aca? What does it say/What does it say here
Vamos a poner la fecha, prolijo Put the date, tidily
Vamos a cambiar el libro/cuarderno rojo Change to the red book
Escuchenme Listen to me
Mira Look
Buena Good
Ta! This is a gap filling word - means ok or something like that
Vamos a ver Lets see
A ver que dice? Lets see what it says
Levanto la mano por favor Put your hand up please
Muchas gente caminando ... Too many people walking around the classroom
Tarea para la casa Homework

I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. I have a whole new set of names to learn, but the little children are great. What was interesting to me is this: Second Language Learning here is given three hours per week, and we have to struggle to provide 90 minutes a week - priority needs to be placed on time - these children speak well and they have been only learning for one year. They are also very good at their other subjects and are not below par because of having to learn English and the time taken to do it ... very interesting.

Bebiendo el Mate

Mate is the traditional beverage of Argentina...it is a fundamental part of life. It is a strongly caffeinated tea like drink which is drunk from a hollow gourd about the size of an apple. You fill the gourd with the herb, it is then filled with hot water (not boiling) and then drunk through a metal straw (bombilla) that has a perforated end so you can drink the liquid without getting the leaves into your mouth. I need to make clear that the mate is both the drink and the gourd that you drink from.
Mates can be fashioned from anything - wood, with intricate traditional silver carvings, a bulls horn, metal-but most are made from a gourd. The actual herb is called yerba and it is grown in the warm provinces of Misiones and Corrientes in the north.
Mate customs are vary from person to person, but there are some fundamental practices that are important. There is one server - called a cebador - who takes charge of serving the mates. The server serves themselves first (presumably to make sure it is just right), the mate is then passed from person to person. Each person drinks the entire contents of the mate and then passes it back to the server who refills the mate and passes it to the next person. You do not say gracias until you do not want any more mate. After several rounds the mate becomes diluted or llavado (washed) so the server will either change a portion (ensillar) or all of the yerba in the mate. This continues until the last person has decided they have had enough mate...which could be the better part of a day sometimes. When it is your turn to have mate you are not to take too long over it or you could be reminded the mate "no es un microfono!".
Last week we shared mate in class. Pilar, a chica en la clase es el mejor maker of mate. It really is a nice littel ritual, but does go against everything we teach children in health about not sharing spit. But I will continue to drink mate while I am here because I like the social interaction and the drink - if Pilar makes it.

Tuesday 2 September 2008

My Feet



Oh What Bliss - Barefoot - Estoy seguro mi soul esta en mi planta. Silvia y yo fuimos el rio de la plata y I would never have believed I was just outside the centre of Buenos Aires. We took our zapatos off y nuestra pies disfrutamos el gentle mimos del cesped. Nosotros caminamos el parque para tres horas. Fue muchas cometas - this string was particularly eye catching!

El Mundo de Empanada



Whether they are cebolla llenado salteñas, cebolla y choclo con salsa blanco llenado san juaninos, tomate y varioso quesos en la tucumanas, cordillera y champignone de Patagonia or finely ground cabra en el jujenos …yes I ate a poor wee cabrito … empanadas esta el mejor comida en el mundo. El San Juaninos y La Morada en Bario Norte tenes el mejor empanadas en Buenos Aires if you ask me. Mi mejor favorito empanadas esta choclo – muy rico!!
Y, Mayumi y yo cocinado nuestra primer choclo empanadas hoy. Riquisimo!! Nosotros sentimos orgulloso de nuestra cocinando aptitud.