Sunday, November 28, 2010

We woke up to snow again this morning. It looked like it had snow about three inches. Things are really looking like a marshmallow world. At this rate, winter is going to be a long one in Cache Valley. I think we will be glad to arrive in Kathmandu.

Brent left this morning about 10:30 to go back to Grand Island. Gene and I went to Sacrament Meeting and then came home and had a bite to eat. We were lucky enough to still have some Thanksgiving leftovers and they tasted good.  I love leftovers – not having to cook. It works for me.

After cleaning up the dishes and finishing our packing, we left home and headed to the MTC. I had texted Brent and asked him how the roads were and he called back and said they were mostly just a little slushy.  We found that to be the case. It was starting to stick as we went over Sardine Canyon but most of the way it wasn’t to bad. The radio said there had been lots of accidents and it you didn’t have to drive, to stay at home.

When we got to Salt Lake, we stopped in to see Loy for about 45 minutes. We hadn’t really talked with her and she wanted to know all about our call and Nepal. We had a nice visit. 

We headed again, for Provo. The roads weren’t great and I’m thankful that Gene is a good driver. I also felt peaceful and knew that Heavenly Father was blessing us and that we would arrive safely. We stopped and had a sandwich and then arrived at the MTC. 

They welcomed us and gave us the key to the room and showed us a map of the building we would be in. We are in the Jacob Hamblin building. They told us we could park in the church parking lot behind and go through a gate and our building would be close by. Sounded good to us.

We found the church parking lot. Now remember, it’s really cold outside and I don’t like being cold. Gene got out of the car and I told him I would wait to see if he could get the lock open. He looked and looked and couldn’t see any way we could open the gate. There was a number pad and we figured we needed a code to get in. We decided we would have to drive back around to the front desk and ask about that.

I don’t know why they didn’t do it at the start, but this time they did give Gene a code for the lock. Sounded good. We drove back around, parked the car and are ready to unload our stuff. Gene get’s out of the car, puts the code in the lock – and nothing. This time he did have a phone number to call and called the desk. They gave us another number. Okay, punch in the new code – nothing again. I’m starting to wonder what is going on. Okay, one more time, Gene calls the desk. They give us yet another number and said if that didn’t work, they would have to call their supervisor.

Hurray, it did work. Okay, we take a couple of things, go through the gate and now the challenge is to find the right building. I didn't know this place was so big. And it’s still cold outside. We finally found the building and now, guess what? We couldn’t get the card key to work in the lock. We again, called the front desk. They are probably thinking we are a nuisance. Finally, he said he would send a security guy around. It wasn’t long and he came. There was some ice buildup in the lock. H chipped away at it for a few minutes and finally got it to work. Hurray!

We got in our room and it’s pretty basic. The sheets we folded nicely on the bed. So we made the bed and  unpacked our suitcases.  We did a little reading before we going to bed. I hope tomorrow goes better.

Monday, November 29, 2010

What an experience to be here at the Missionary Training Center in Provo. We started early this morning by going to the cafeteria and having breakfast. Wow! To see all those  young elders with dark suits, white shirts and ties. They are so impressive. And then to see them go through the cafeteria line and  fill up their plates with food. I remember how much food young men eat. And they were all so polite and open doors for us and encourage us to get in front of them in the lines. And it was fun to see the senior missionaries and chat with some at breakfast, find out where they are from and where they are going. It was awesome!

After breakfast, we met Brother Tom Peterson in the lobby. He is over all the training that goes on here at the MTC. He took us to our class – English International Language, a class specifically designed for seniors who are going to teach English in foreign countries. There, we met another couple going to Viet Nam -  Elder and Sister Michel. They are wonderful. He was also a contractor, building mostly houses and then into real estate and doing what they call ‘house flipping’.

We also met our instructor, actually two instructors, Brother Neil Anderson and Brother Norman Evans. They both have their PhD and are professors at BYU in Linguistics and the English Language. Brother Anderson is the Coordinator of the English Language Center and Brother Evans is the Assistant coordinator.  Here they are taking time out of their terribly busy schedules to come and teach us two couples how to teach English. It’s been a great experience.

Yes, I do fell extremely inadequate and I think Gene feels the same. It’s been a lot of information overload as we have heard terms and phrases that perhaps we heard years ago in a high school English class.

We talked about the basic principles of Language Learning and were reminded that language is a tool for communication that involves mastery of both skill and knowledge, that it is a battle of the heart and that learners vary considerable in their preferred learning style. We talked about the role of the language teacher and encouraging and motivating the students, being a couch instead of a sage or one who lectures.

We covered some successful ways to plan a lesson and the reasons why.  We talked a lot about the ROPES system: Review, Overview, Presentation, Practice, Perform, Evaluation and Summary. We need to follow that outline with each lesson we present.

Our morning instruction was done, not it was time to sit in and observe a class. The class was composed of young missionaries from different foreign countries called to serve as missionaries in various places where they speak English. So, they are here at the MTC learning English. What choice young men and women. Many were the only members in their families and were here ready and willing and anxious to serve heavenly Father as a missionary.

The teachers here are all returned missionaries themselves and it was very interesting to observe the class. Brother Anderson encouraged us to ask ourselves, “Can I see myself doing what they are doing?” It was pretty basic and they used for their text,"Preach My Gospel” Those young people were awesome and so friendly. Most were quite outgoing, but some were more shy and insecure. Anyway, a good experience to sit in their class.

We then went to lunch and then had a couple of hours before our next session. Then it was Brother Evans instructing us. We talked a lot about grammar. What is Grammar and how is Grammar learned? We talked about how you teach grammar and how it’s so important to practice, practice and practice. The goal is to use grammar to communicate. And we learn one bite at a time.

He stressed that when asked a question about a rule of grammar to not be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back with you.” And then follow through and do it. Or you could say , “Good question. Could you share with me an example of what you mean?”  This puts the responsibility back on their shoulders.

We  again observed a class in the afternoon. It was a different bunch of missionaries and they were a little further advanced. The teacher was great – and to think that we will have the ‘opportunity’ to teach a little 20 minute mini lesson tomorrow. Actually, it makes me really nervous. I think Gene is a lot more confident than I am.

By the time we were done, it was time for dinner. We had thought we might go walk through the Mall, but we had this assignment to teach and so headed back to our room and started looking for information and ideas. We were supposed to cover past tense verbs ending in ‘ed’. Gene was trying to come up with a lesson plan because we thought we were going to also have to teach a little session in the morning and one in the afternoon. He encouraged me to come up with something for the afternoon. All I could do was draw a blank. I worried and fretted about it and went to bed with little written down. I dreamed and thought of those past tense verbs all night long.