There are couple of things that I must say I really enjoyed today. First and foremost the opportunity to work with, discuss and learn about my colleagues from South Africa. I found the stand up/sit down activity to be extremely revealing as I was able to count 21 different first languages in the classroom.
In the last session of the day we were able to take time learn a few key phrases in Sepedi. Though we did not have time to practice the words or learn more vocabulary, as I'm sure the professor would wanted, I really enjoyed the discussion about the culture behind the language. I have found that some of the most important parts of learning a language is not about how to say the right words to the right person at the right time, but about the culture that is a part of that language. I was also pleased that she thought it was important to do so as well.
-Linsay Wach
I really appreciated all of the cultural/historical background that the speaker gave to us at the end of class. I found the descriptions of the greetings, and communication in general of the tribal people to be very interesting. The information that was provided gave me a context for which the short lesson we received on language could be used in. The speaker did not just lecture at us when teaching, instead she used actions and gave stories and examples from tribes that enhanced the learning the experience for me.
During her presentation, the speaker showed some pictures of what a tribe or rural community in South Africa would look like and this helped me to visualize the information that was being taught. I think that this could go even further than images on a slideshow. It would be valuable to "learn by doing" and be taught the information about the tribal history while taking a tour of a township or rural community.
-Allix Catlett
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