Articulation - Dr. Williams, my class blog is actually at http://jiahsienlit.blogspot.com but I've uploaded it here in since it's already linked

Pronounciation can also be a major problem. Sometimes her accent is her downfall but I believe this can be fixed. I've encouraged her to speak more Spanish to other people around her but it is difficult when almost everyone she spends time with is a native spanish speaker.

It is amazing how much improvement I have seen in her all semester. Now that her speech is nearly gramatically correct, I hope that her ability to converse better will help her throughout her life and career. It is sad to see the semester come to an end but I know that better things are in store.

Saying goodbye is difficult but the fact that we've helped each other so much will definitely help. A semester in class and a semester as a teacher: what could be better? I believe I've even learnt a little more about myself for more patience and understanding will always make you a better teacher:) Congratulations, fellow classmates for a great semester of learning and teaching!

The signfiicance of Symbols

A word in one language can be so different in another. We've been working on proper punctuation use and I hope she is getting it. Things such as commas, apostrophes and parenthesis are everyday things to a college student but it is hard for someone who has difficulty reading.

Sometimes we get stuck and I try to stir the conversation to another topic to get the ball rolling. I still believe conversing is the best way to pick up a language but reading would go well hand in hand. I have tried to get her to start watching English TV shows but she insists on watching her spanish telenovelas.

I believe that watching other people speak grammatically correct English would help immensely but now that I think of it, not many TV shows have grammatically correct English. Many shows use extensive catch phrases and slangs that a non-english speaker would have a hard time just understanding it. Anyhow, keep going, keep teaching as the saying goes: No pain, No gain!:)

Knowledge and Potency

I have known for a long time now that there are cultural barriers besides the language ones. I just didn't realise these barriers were so signficant. Sometimes I could be talking about objects and it will be fine but when I start conversing over abstract ideas such as faith or emotions, it gets difficult.

I think she is beginning to understand that this will be a long process and not a short one. We worked on simple and compound sentences today and I believe we are indeed making progress. It is still illuminating when we discuss our daily lives and I am surprised that basic things such as TV we watch and the food we cook could be so different.

Learning is a blessing and I hope I can do this after graduating. I know that teachers have long been looked down as in terms of status but I believe teaching is an innate ability that all humans possess and that we should all use it to the best of our ability. Language is subjective to culture and good luck with overcoming the cultural barriers, guys!

Learning: Art or Science?

Initially coming from a science background, I have to constantly remind myself that teaching is an art. I cannot expect results like ones from a machine. We have constantly worked on little things like identifying verbs, nouns and adverbs but I want to move on to gerunds and advanced grammar.

I shall not give up. Teaching might be hard but it is so worthwhile. The improvement brings a smile to my face and makes my day. Moving on to literature will be difficult but I believe that it is possible with patience and persevereance. No pain, no gain right?

I've found that using the Peter and Jane series might be helpful but they are all the way at home. Hopefully, my parents can ship them over for they are so helpful in teaching basic language skills. Keep teaching classmates! Never give up for the end is near*

Language Barriers

Knowing how important this was for her, I have been keeping up with the meetings. Time is very limited as we are both very busy people so i try to keep class concise and to the point.

Initially, it was hard just to keep a conversation going, but it has got much easier. I have discovered that the art of teaching is basically the art of listening. The more I listen to her problems the better I am at helping her. I believe what we do, as college students helping matters so much and I hope she improves a lot more.

I've discovered that using the translating tool Google uses: http://translate.google.com has enabled lessons to go so much more smoothly.  Now that I can assign homework, lessons have gotten better and faster. Hopefully we'll get to active and passive voice soon.

Appreciative Effort

Service Learning is not easy. We have to deal with non-native speakers who effectively have never spoken a full sentence in perfect English before. Granted, they've watched movies and TV in English but most of them pay attention only to the Spanish subtitles and not the actual words spoken.

Learning how to perform in a non-classroom environment was a new experience. Being a WA, I have had previous experience with teaching writing and reading but only to college-level students, most of them upperclassmen and women. 

I was surprised at how little English they knew. Even basic words such as fly or swim or should or should not were not in their vocabulary. We had to start with basic sentences such as "Pat has a dog." or "Shelly went to school today." 

I believe what we do does indeed create a TCU Community that is more inclusive and with this service learning I hope to teach many more TCU Staff to at least speak basic English or even use their computer to check their email and perform online transactions.

I hope the Honors Program continues to host this service learning project in its classes for many years to come. It is one of the more fulfilling courses and service learning I have had at TCU.