GPA: Wrapping It Up

Phase 6: The Un-Phase

I can’t say much about this; it’s still uncharted waters at this point.  Basically, the idea is that the GP will continue learning and growing into the host world indefinitely, but structured sessions are no longer necessary on a regular basis.  It’s also called the “Self-Sustaining Growth Phase”.

Any questions you have about the GPA? the various phases or activities? my personal experience with the program?  Ask away.  I’ll do my best to answer.

GPA: Phase 5

Phase 5: The Native-to-Native Discourse Phase

Phase hours: 500

GP-nurturer ratio: 1-1

Materials needed for sessions: movies, recordings of radio or TV programs, recordings of dialogues between native speakers

Activities in session: massaging movies, radio and TV programs, and recorded conversations, various talking activities

Activities out of session: reviewing recordings from sessions, visiting with host family/host friends, planning sessions, reading, watching movies, listening to radio broadcasts, etc.

Understanding level: almost anything host people say to each other (as long as it's not highly specialized)

 

Speaking level: explaining and justifying

 

 

 

I was really happy to reach Phase 5.  It's my favorite phase, and after 500 hours in Phase 4, I was quite ready for a change.

 

 

I've been using "Building on Firm Foundations" in my sessions.  I've been through the lessons several times already in English, and I'm enjoying it in French too (nearly as much as in English maybe?).

 

 

Apparently voracious readers have an advantage in achieving high levels of proficiency in another language.  Happily for me, I adore reading.

GPA: Phase 4

Phase 4: The Deep Life Sharing Phase

Phase hours: 500

GP-nurturer ratio: 1-1

Materials needed for sessions: recording device, notebook for writing new vocabulary in

Activities in session: life stories, "day on the job" interviews, various talking activities (GP tries to retell a story from Phase 2 or 3, GP tries to describe in detail a scene he/she observed), recording for feedback (GP records himself/herself, perhaps telling a story, and then plays it in session, with the nurturer stopping the recording and correcting each error), books (nurturer is recorded reading, then the recording is "massaged")

Activities out of session: reviewing recordings from sessions, visiting with host family/host friends, planning sessions, reading

Understanding level: deep explanations of host life, beliefs, and practices

Speaking level: complex stories

 

 

 

This is a collection of stories that local school children would be familiar with.

 

 

As you can see, the print isn't too small, so it's not too overwhelming for new readers...or new readers of French, as the case may be.

 

 

I also read articles online to give me new vocabulary.  Wikipedia gave me the whole spectrum as far as difficulty went.  I found food articles easy (because I'm pretty familiar with this domain).  And interesting (because the world is full of different foods).  And practical (because food is a necessary part of everyday life).  And enjoyable (because I like food, in spite of what my African friends may think when they look at me).

GPA: Phase 3

Phase 3: The Shared Story Phase

Phase hours: 250

GP-nurturer ratio (this is the last Phase where it's feasible to have more than one-on-one): 1-1

Materials needed for sessions: cartoons and stories, recording device, notebook for writing new vocabulary in

Activities in session: shared experiences (e.g. outing to the market, making fried plantains, visiting the zoo), Script of Life, cartoons narrated by the nurturer, "bridge stories" (stories that both the GP and nurturer are familiar with - such as fairy tales or Bible stories)

Activities out of session: reviewing recordings from sessions, visiting with host family/host friends, planning sessions

Understanding level: complex stories (provided the content is already somewhat familiar)

Speaking level: simple stories (mostly in present tense)

 

 

We like our coffee break.  "Coffee break" is perhaps a little misleading.  We don't usually have coffee.  We chat and have snacks and drink tea and sometimes...

 

 

...We even invent our own games.  (Or at least, Ruth invents games and then persuades us all to play with her.)

GPA: Phase 2

Phase 2: The Story-Building Phase

Phase hours: 150

 

GP-nurturer ratio (starting in Phase 2, it's important to have a lower ratio to allow each person more time for talking during the session): 3-1

Materials needed for sessions: wordless picture books, recording device, notebook for writing new vocabulary in

Activities in session: stories with wordless picture books, stories using drawings

Activities out of session: reviewing the recordings from sessions, visiting (possible but extremely difficult!)

Understanding level: simple stories and descriptions

Speaking level: words and simple phrases tied to "the here and now"

 

 

 

Telling stories is a team effort.  In the first part of the phase, the GP tries to describe everything on the page, then the nurturer retells the story the way a native speaker would tell it.  In the second part of the phase, the nurturer describes the pages, and the GP "massages" the description, asking questions and getting clarification on anything he/she doesn't understand.

 

In the final part of the phase, we take turns telling stories from our lives using simple drawings.  (In case you're curious, that first story is about the mega-snowstorm we had one winter in MO, when I fell in a rather deep snow drift...because I walked down the hillside instead of taking the road, which had been cleared.  Yeah.  The second story is about the middle-of-the-night tornado during my last couple weeks there.  Oh Missouri weather, how I miss you.)

GPA: Phase 1

Phase 1: The Here and Now Phase

Phase hours: 100

GP-nurturer ratio (this ratio may vary somewhat depending on the situation - I’m just giving you the ratios we had): 6-1

Materials needed for sessions: everyday objects, toys, simple pictures and drawings, camera for taking pictures (for review), recording device, notebook for writing new vocabulary in (“word log”)

Activities in session: a variety of TPR-type exercises

Activities out of session: reviewing the recordings from sessions

Understanding level: words and simple phrases tied to "the here and now" - items on the table in front of us, actions demonstrated by the nurturer, simple pictures, etc. 

Speaking level: essentially none

And here's a couple snapshots for you -

 

 

Taking pictures of all the objects on the table for a review

 

Detailed plans are provided for each session in Phase 1

GPA: Intro

Basic philosophy of the GPA (Growing Participator Approach)

“It’s not a language to be learned but a life to be lived.”



In other words, the goal isn't simply to understand a language, but to be involved in a community.  To understand how people in this new community see themselves, their society, and the world as a whole.

Traditional methods tend to be grammar-based, while the GPA is closer to the way a child would learn his or her first language: lots of listening, correction while speaking (Child: "I seed a bird." Parent: "Yes, you saw a bird."  Child: "I saw a bird."), etc.  You don't get long grammatical explanations; you aren't expected to memorize conjugation charts or vocabulary lists or dialogues.  Instead, you're progressively gaining a base of knowledge from which to spontaneously (though not always "correctly") express yourself and to understand what is going on around you.

There's all more that could be said, but since I'm not trying to write a thesis here, we'll move on. :)

Terms used

 

Growing participator (or GP):  The language-culture learner, whose participation in the host world should ideally grow deeper and deeper over time.

Nurturer: The “teacher” (may be on a formal, paid basis, but may also be unpaid), who nurtures the GP into a deeper understanding and participation in the host world.

Host world/people/etc.: This is pretty self-explanatory.  For example, my “host people” are West Africans.

Super-charged participation sessions: Language-culture learning sessions, with activities designed to facilitate participation in the host world.

Growth zone: The area of language-culture that provides enough challenge to stretch the GP, but not enough to be overwhelming or impossibly difficult.

Iceberg principle:



Basically, the idea is to get as many words/phrases into your "iceberg" possible, then move them steadily up in the iceberg.  Traditional methods would tend to see only the words in the tip of the iceberg ("words I have mastered in every respected") as the ones actually learned.  However, the GPA considers words at any point on the iceberg to be learned at some level.

Massaging: Used in many different activities throughout the program.  The GP records the nurturer (telling a story, for instance), then plays back the recording, stopping each time he/she doesn't understand a word or phrase, or else needs clarification of some sort.  The nurturer explains as necessary, then writes down any new words or expressions encountered.

Negotiating meaning: When either the GP or nurturer says something the other doesn't understand, they dialogue until an understanding is reached.  (Nurturer: "She put the food on the table."  GP:  "'Food'?  What's food?"  Nurturer:  "You eat food.  You cook food."  GP:  "So, a burger is 'food'?"  Nurturer:  "That's right."  GP:  "Is water 'food'?"  Nurturer:  "No, water is a drink."  GP:  "Okay.")  The dialogue is an important and valuable part of the learning process, which would be shortcut if the scenario went like this... Nurturer: "She put the food on the table."  GP:  "Hold on, let me look up 'food' in my French-English dictionary.  Oh yeah, here we go.  Nourriture."

Script of life: A detailed, step-by-step description of an everyday event, such as taking a bus, washing one’s hands, or making tea.  In general, people in the same culture will share a basic "script" (a normal, expected way of doing a certain thing).

Word log: A written list of all words and phrases learned (along with the date of the session).

Because of Javert

We laughed at him, Marie-Claude and I, because of how his expressions never changed and he always talked in the same flat, toneless voice.

But he wasn't really funny.

He was tragic.

He was a man who saw himself as an administer of the law, an upholder of justice.  In reality, he was a slave of the law.  It was all he knew.  His entire existence was consumed with duty and retribution.  He didn't know forgiveness - how to give it nor how to accept it.  Perfection was a shadowy ghost, haunting him at every turn, driving him on mercilessly, always just out of reach.

In the end, unable to live up to his own impossible ideals, he drowned himself.

Out of all the characters in Les Mis, he's the one I find the saddest.  He's a chilling, dramatic illustration of a life without grace.  And he strikes a familiar chord for me.

I wouldn't have ever been a Valjean or a Fantine or an Éponine.  But Javert?  His story hits a little too close to home.

That relentless sense of duty.  That inability to fully accept the forgiveness God offers.  The perfectionism, perfectionism, perfectionism.

As I think of Javert's watery end, the realization makes me want to cry: this is what being a slave to the law leads to.  Death.  Not a literal death, to be sure - at least not in every instance.  But ultimately being a slave to the law can only lead to death.

And that's what I've been rescued from.

From death.  From my own never-enough-ness.  From the burden of the impossible.

I've been set free, for life and hope and freedom and joy and forgiveness.  When I realize where I could be without grace...

What can I even say?

Let Them Eat...Cake?

Today we're gonna talk about cake.

Actually, this post is about language - cake just happens to be the funnest example I have for you.

So look up the word "cake" in any French-English dictionary and you'll find gâteau.  Pretty straightforward, right?

Except gâteau isn't used just for what we (meaning Americans) would think of as cake.  Here, everything is gâteau.  Or so it seems.

Chocolate cake?  Gâteau.

Pumpkin loaf?  Gâteau.

Oatmeal bars?  Gâteau.

Brownies?  Gâteau again.

Apple crumble/crisp?  That's right.  Gâteau.

The other day an African friend was talking about how another missionary had made banana bread.  "I don't know why you guys call it 'bread'.  It's really a cake!"

"And I don't know why you guys like to call everything 'cake'," I laughed in response.

I mean, to me there's a huge and obvious difference between cookie bars, crisps, and cakes.  In English, we have a distinct term for each.  We have separate sections in our cookbooks for them.  Here, one French word covers all those different categories.  You could literally translate pumpkin loaf and oatmeal bars into French, but it would sound weird and silly.  To them, it's gâteau.  (Although ironically you will occasionally hear the English word "cake" instead of gâteau.  I haven't yet figured out for sure when/why "cake" is used.  Not enough data on that yet.)

Incidentally - and I include this just to further mess with your mind - the phrase "let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French expression qu'ils mangent de la brioche.  But brioche actually refers to a lightly sweetened yeast bread, not cake.

Go figure.

December Festivities

Let the treasures of the trial

Form within me as I go

And at the end of this long journey

Let me leave them at Your throne

 

...That's what's playing in my headphones right now, and no, it has nothing to do with the post really.  It would be more appropriate if I was listening my Christmas playlist, but honestly...I listened to that a lot last month.  So I thought I'd change things up a bit. :)

 

Today we're half-way through January so I figured I'd better my December post written soon.  It took nearly three hours to get all these pictures uploaded the other day.  Between the very spotty internet and having other things to do, by the time the pictures were finished uploaded, I couldn't get the post itself written.

 

But enough excuses.  Let's get started.

 

 

 

 

The whole month of December was crazy, crazy busy.  I got a cold at the beginning of the month, so I resigned myself to having a cough for pretty much the entire month.  (Still do.  It usually takes me around three weeks to get over a cough, and this dust doesn't help at all.)  I don't remember the last time I had such a full Christmas season.  The break part of Christmas Break pretty much disappeared with one festive event piled on top of another piled on top of another.

 

Most of it was really fun.  Special times.  Good memories.  Lots of pictures.

 

Just...well...tiring. :)

 

- - -

 

 

We started out the festivities with our NTM Christmas party on the 13th.  Ruth and I went over Muriel's in the morning to help with preparations.

 

This year we had a progressive dinner - which was incidentally the first progressive dinner I've ever been to.

 

 

We peeled and cut an impressive amount of carrots and potatoes.

 

But with three of us it went fast, and it was fun to hang out.

 

We listened to Christmas music and drank tea and ate nems and pain chinois (nems are basically spring rolls, and pain chinois is a very similar filling inside pastry instead of a rice wrapper).  Ruth kept making us laugh, something she's an expert at. :)

 

 

 

 

 

We had to keep an eye on the sugared almonds for the salad, because certain people who were not part of the cooking crew kept wandering into the kitchen to snitch little bits.

 

 

Apartment #1: Cheese and crackers, veggies and fruit with dip, and drinks.

 

 

 

 

 

We were each given little slips of paper with one line from a Christmas carol.  We had to go around and find the other people with the rest of the song.  Then each group had to sing their song for the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

Apartment #2: We just visited while we were eating.  No activities. :)

 

The menu:

ham

steamed green beans and carrots 

salad

scalloped potatoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apartment #3: Everybody brought desserts.  We had several craft tables, a photo both, and a gift exchange (Theme: "Something you can't live without here"), singing, and reading the Christmas story.

 

 

 

 

 

So clearly it was a little crazy in this room.  Also, I was distracted and therefore employing a randomly-snap-pictures-and-hope-some-turn-out approach.

 

But, hey, I never claimed to be a professional.

 

 

 

 

Yay for friends!

 

 

Ruth and Michi didn't get the memo.  We were totally supposed to make goofy faces.

 

 

And this is what happens when I ask Jenn to take a picture us of with my camera.

 

 

"Hey, gimme my camera back!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

See?  This is precisely why I usually make faces in pictures.  Because then I know it's going to look silly.  Because then I'm supposed to look silly, ridiculous even.  But here I'm just smiling and trying to look normal...and...yeah.  Not really a success.

 

At least Anna looks normal and cute.

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason the guys weren't into the card-making stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- - -

 

The school Rick and Muriel's girls go to had a Christmas program one Sunday evening.  I didn't have anything else planned, so on a whim I went with them, and I enjoyed it so much!

 

Puppets, carol singing, skits, and dances...and all in English.  Happy sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- - -

 

A completely unedited picture which was good representation of how my kitchen looked for much of December.  There were cakes and bars and olive balls to make in...not small quantities.  Which resulted in a crowded counter and a general mess.

 

 

 

Because my oven is small and has only one rack, even a modest batch of cookies takes a while to finish.  So my brilliant idea was that I'd just make quick breads vs. the typical Christmas cookies to share with friends.

 

The poor pumpkin and apple breads ended up smushed in transport, though.

 

Lesson learned.

 

Cookies next time.

 

- - -

 

 

The Sunday before Christmas, I invited a bunch of girls over for a finger-food party.  (Finger foods are my one weaknesses.)  I think only about five or six ended up coming, but we had a good time. And there was plenty of food, so I call that a success.

 

It was also a very international party: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Germany, UK, and the US were all represented.  I like international gatherings.  I think the diversity reminds me, in a small way, of California.  Yes, this is totally a rabbit trail.

 

But while I'm in rabbit trail mode, I'm going to make an excuse for why there's only one picture of this event (and it doesn't even have people in it).  Basically, when I'm the one hosting, I have a hard time remembering to take pictures of the guests and the action, because...I don't know, I guess I get caught up in the visiting.

 

Thank you for your understanding.

 

- - -

 

Our church's Christmas party was held on Christmas eve (into the wee hours of Christmas morning!).  Last year I didn't go.  I'm not a night owl to begin with, and the prospect of being out super late - when I wouldn't even understand much - was not at all appealing.

 

This year was different.  I honestly think this Christmas party was probably one of my biggest "wow-look-at-how-much-things-have-changed" moments.  From the ladies' planning meetings, to helping cook, and the party itself, I was able to be involved on some level.  An insider?  Not completely.  But at least not completely on the outside anymore.

 

I went over Angèle's to help her and some other ladies with cooking the day before and the morning of the party.

 

The menu:

various appetizers

grilled chicken

breaded chicken

pork brochettes (kebabs of sorts)

fries

salade chinoise (a cold noodle-based salad)

traditional drinks (bissap, bouye) and sodas

various cakes

 

Angèle wasn't responsible for everything, but she did all the meats and the fries.

 

Trust me, it was a lot of work.

 

 

But she's quite organized, and with several extra sets of hands, we pulled it off.  The whole two days proved to be a really good bonding experience.

 

 

 

When Angèle didn't have anything for me to do, I'd tote around my little buddy Theo (who is six months old as of yesterday).  He recognizes me now and his little face lights up when he sees me, which of course warms my heart. :)

 

 

So here we are, at the party.  The "official" starting time was supposed to be 7:30.  I got there a little after 8:00 and it didn't start probably closer to 9:00.

 

This is Africa, people.

 

 

Different groups (kids, young people, ladies) got up and sang while we enjoyed the appetizers.

 

 

 

 

It was when the ladies sang their songs the audience got really lively with their dancing and clapping.

 

I had this weird moment of, "Hey, this is good party [according to African ideals]," followed almost immediately by, "When I go back home I wonder if I'll feel those parties are too boring and toned-down?"

 

 

You know how hard it is to get clear pictures of people when they're dancing?!

 

Pastor Gabi gave a message, and by the time the program was over and we actually ate it was...wait for it...around midnight.

 

 

Tout le monde a bien mangé.  (Everyone ate well.)  Another sign of a good party.

 

There was more singing, visiting, and lots of clean-up to do.  I left close to 2:30, and there were still more than a few people there.  I got home, put the food in the fridge, put my pajamas on and collapsed into bed.  (I did brush my teeth too, I think...)

 

- - -

 

Several hours later I woke up and got ready for Christmas lunch with Jenn and Michael.

 

 

It was the first time I've eaten at a restaurant on Christmas, but it ended up being just the thing.  (And by the way, that's sparkling apple juice.  In case you're wondering.) 

 

The food: tasty

The ambiance: pleasant - not too loud but just lively enough

The company: fun

 

Also, after all the time I'd spent in the kitchen before that, it was so nice to not have to cook or clean up.

 

And guess what I did after I got back?  I laid down for a "nap".

 

- - -

 

The week after Christmas was busy...no pictures, sorry.  (See my "Many Hats" post for pictures.)

 

Babysitting and house projects took up the majority of my time that week.  I'd planned to go Angèle's Monday evening, but that didn't work out, so I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and figured, "Oh well, if it doesn't work to go over there this week it won't be the end of the world.  At least I got to hang out with them a lot last week."  The next day she called and was like, "You'll come tomorrow, won't you?  So we can see you?"

 

It's nice to not only be entirely welcome (which I know I always was at their house) but really wanted. :)

 

So I spent my New Year's Eve with them.  In my mind I'd planned for a repeat of last year, when I rang in the New Year all curled on my couch with Evangelists in Chains.  Although I certainly wouldn't have complained about a quiet evening by myself, it was really fun to be with them instead.  We took an evening walk with the kids, then went to see her parents for a bit.  ("To greet them," they said, which basically involved sitting in their living room and drinking cold juice for half an hour or so.)

 

We came back, and Julien locked the front door, as if to say, "Okay, we're in for the night - just our family."  You have no idea how much I miss my folks back in CA, and would have spent the holidays with them in a heartbeat if I could have, yet...

 

I realize just how much Julien and Angèle have become family to me.   Not to replace my own family, but to add to it.  It's cool how God blesses us like that, you know?

 

So we sat around, eating our warthog brochettes and the salade chinoise that Angèle's mom had sent for us, talking and laughing and watching the TV.  We watched the fireworks for a bit.  Germain was so exhausted from all the excitement that he fell asleep relatively early, while his baby brother and the rest of us stayed up and celebrated.  I left finally around 2:00.

 

I guess that's technically I have to stop there with December festivities, since by the time I left their place it was already January. :)

 

In life or death, whom shall I fear?

Closer than breath I feel You near

Oh hold me in Your strong embrace

Where I find rest in the year of grace

 

And that's a perfect note on which to end the old year and to start the new year -

 

Grace.