Friday, March 17, 2006

The foundation - II

Compettion went well the other day. I don’t know who won the competition. Was it me, all those aachchi’s stories reminding to be “fair” all the time, giving each girl her fair turn (boys suck, they don’t know any answer btw), and getting bad name from each girl when the turn goes away from each girl? Was it Anandi, no, no, she doesn’t give a damn about being “fair”.. Was it every one of us, screaming and jumping for every question asked and answered. “Asking” part is always more enjoyable than the “answering” part. I always think deciding on what to ask needs more brain than to answer those questions. I enjoy “asking” part. I enjoy “why this question”, more than “this is the answer”. I would say, the biggest winner is our teacher. The other day she taught us how to learn this new language, English. Simple, she started from a, aa, e, ee, u, uu… same as Tamil. Simple. Today we have spelling test. Ambiga teacher will tell a word. We all will write it. And then it will be assessed.

Klerk…. Teacher says the word loud... we all start figuring out the spelling. I write, clerck? Klerk? Clark? I believe it has to be klark. See, k is for k, l for l, a for a, r for r, k for k. so, it has to be Klark. You can see that table showing each English equivalent of Tamil letters on the board. She has left it on for our reference. She always tells that we should never mug up. Also, she always writes some reference material on the board whenever there is a test. We have to work out the answer, she tells. See, k for k, l for l, a....

Yaay, klark is correct, even though the actual English word is “clerk”. Because, it is not the "correct" spelling that is correct, it is your explanation that gets you "correct". Girls who have written "clerk", but couldn't explain why and how it is "clerk", got "wrong", but I got "correct". Honestly, I don't know the actual word. I just wrote from the reference. My maama is a clerk in a bank, I do know the word, but don't know its spelling. You see, it is k for k, l for l, a for a... Yaaay, I got all correct and I am her favourite girl. Don't believe her when she complaints to my chithi that I cry if she gives me a 99½ out of 100, and ask her (ambiga teacher) to explain how did she come up with that minus½. She is the one told me that it is the explanation that counts. She is secretly pleased about me questioning her like that. I know. I know. (Grinning ear to ear.)

16 comments:

Premalatha said...

Hi Draj,

In our days (crying, because you have made me feel "old"), we learnt to read/write tamil first and then came English. so, relating english to Tamil was less confusing, in fact did not give us any fear of learning a "new language" when compared to how it was taught in other places/by other teachers. I actually adore the way Ambiga teacher taught us English. But, you can see that it also screwed up my spelling skills for ever, also it have given me an "attitude" towards people who talk about "correct" spelling. lol.

As far as "how to teach more than one language" depends on how the child has been growing up. if it is more than one language together/simultaneously, it may not have the effect too much. but, that "simultaneous" thing has to start from the day the child learns words from her/his mother. if the child is used to tamil at home, suddenly telling the child that book is book in english will confuse the child. but, it won't have that much effect when it comes to reading/writing, again, if both languages are taught simultaneously. One has to pay some interest to child psychology before messing up with a child's head.

Premalatha said...

Hi Vikram,

the library in Kombai is my play ground,i was always spending my time in library,

I love our library too. but it used to be there in Naduththeru. Now they have moved it to merkuththeru, haven't they?


while my friends went for playing cricket,killi,golly,bambaram.

I played these and many more too. :-)



hey,i know the Ambiga teacher......i think she is the teacher for all people studied in thoopu pallikudam

No, she did not teach in thooppu pallikoodam. you are talking about somebodyelse I think.

(even for my father)

That is very mean!

Premalatha said...

Oops, I am considered an oldie too :( hahahaha. But after crossing 30, I stopped reminding myself of my age hehehehe

but others are insisting on it :(

(today is my badday, sorry, b'day.)

B o o said...

What better occasion for a first time commenter than this? Happy Birthday Premalatha! In my blogworld, you are like "HERE" and I am like "here"! :) I was nt kidding when I said I am honored! I am! :)
*That should make your badday a good day huh?*

Premalatha said...

*That should make your badday a good day huh

It does (in a big way). thanks. :-)

rajaram said...

Hi Premalatha,

Wish you a Happy Birth Day.:-)

Anonymous said...

Happy B'day latha!

Premalatha said...

Hi Lata,

Thanks. How have you been? I have been worried about you. I tried to post a message in your site, but failed, (it was my fault of not trying very well). anyway, How have you been? Hope everything is fine. :-)

Thanks for coming back.

Anonymous said...

Happy B'day!!

Premalatha said...

thanks anon.

Premalatha said...

hi prema latha,
enn inniya pirantha naal valthukal


Thanks.

shall i call u prema akka....??

not necessary. prema is fine. :-)

Anonymous said...

belated b'day wishes. hope you had a great day.

Premalatha said...

Sudha,
LOL.
Thanks darl.

Premalatha said...

Sudha,
LOL.
Thanks darl.

Premalatha said...

Hi anon, thanks.

Anonymous said...

//How have you been? I have been worried about you. I tried to post a message in your site, but failed,//

I've been fine...just extra busy with my kids. I've temporarily stopped updating my site so please don't bother checking :) I'm glad you thought about my site though!
I can see that you've been very busy ...I better catch up with all that info that you've posted before I lag behind too much!