We had a great presentation today. Props, some acting, smooth transitions, and even some laughing from the audience. I think our professor liked it a lot, and she was happy to see that we'd really taken off with the creative aspect. I felt sooooo relieved when we were finished, and I think I'm back to being positive about the class as a whole. I also got my last reflection essay back, the one that caused all the hubbub on Thursday, and I got an A! Sabrina drew all kinds of smiley faces and exclamation points, and encouraged me to continue with my ideas for my final paper and project.
SO THERE!
I go to Mensajeros tomorrow--excited about that--and then we leave Thursday morning for Cuenca. It'll be a nice break from classes, and I've been looking forward to this trip our whole time here. We get to visit an indigenous community, a national park, and be in the town for their fiestas. This trip has more of an educational aim than our others, which I'm also excited about. I hope people really take advantage of the opportunity to see and experience some of the culture that remains despite all of the efforts to modernize and develop right over the top of the age-old traditions.
Another interesting tidbit: Diana is applying for an exchange program in Canada next year, and asked for my help writing her essay. She has to write it in English, and she says she has trouble with the whole idea of the essay because she didn't have any formal education as to how to write an essay until her sophomore year of college. The basic 5 paragraph, intro, body, conclusion, evidence and support format was not even mentioned until college! How about that? She says they just don't teach writing or require essays in high schools, so a lot of the foreign students who come for exchange programs actually write better essays in terms of organization and structure than the Ecuadorian students. Interesting, huh? I now understand why people can't wrap their heads around the idea that I'm an English major, and I study grammar and literature in my first language. Lupe said she never learned to write formally, either, so she couldn't even begin to help Diana with this essay. That's a tragedy, in my opinion, because I think learning to write is learning to express oneself, and learning to read critically is a crucial skill for analyzing this world and what is presented before me. I'm thanking my lucky stars for my English teachers, and thinking that is going to be an area of interest to me in the working world.
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3 comments:
How lucky Diana is to have you! It is very surprising to hear that writing isn't part of formal education there. I don't know where I'd be without the writing classes I've taken, both in college and in high school. I certainly wouldn't have very many classes under my college belt if not for writing classes. They made up the bulk of my education last year. I am under the strong impression that writing can never be taught enough!
Well you teach her, and then she will be fantastic! Love, peace, things of that nature...
Amazing to learn that writing skills are not taught there! I wonder if the boys get any training along those lines, or if it's gender related. That's something I'm going to have to ponder. Makes me wonder about other cultures' perspective on the importance of the written word and self expression.
This was a surprise... I'll admit I thought that the teaching of organized throught as a preface to writing was a given in most cultures.
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