Showing posts with label Kirundi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kirundi. Show all posts
Monday, June 21, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Unspoken sacrifices in proficiency and fluency battles
Language fluency is defined as a high level of language proficiency. Proficiency and fluency are related but composed of distinct skills, such as reading, writing, comprehension, and speaking. Well, we are in the middle of reading for a first grader. I remember my mother teaching me how to read. It was difficult and frustrating at time. And it is frustrating for our son. Everybody praises the benefit of bilingualism but few talks about the suffering before the blooming. It is not easy when reading fluency becomes the Holy Grail. It requires a lot of patience, and encouragement. Personally I do not like the timer. Instead of telling children that reading is like a beautiful cross running trail. We condition them to sprint to the finish line. They will eventually enjoy the scenery but they have to sprint first. I know that fluency does not meaning proficiency. How fluid is fluid enough, fluent or proficient enough?
This reading journey awaked a lot of my memories. So I called my mother. I was wondering how difficult it was for her to teach us French. To my surprise, she confessed restraining herself to speak Kirundi at home. She knew that we were overwhelmed and frustrated. And it sadly helped us. Speaking less Kirundi was a difficult choice for her. After the first three years in France
Friday, April 9, 2010
First update of Kirundi-French-English Challenge.
And going over grammar exercises,I am proud to say that I understand plenty of the vocabulary and recognized some of the rules. However the vocalic system, contractions, diphthongs, phonetics, syntax and the vast diversity of articles specific for each group of nouns made me realized that Kirundi is a really rich and complex language.That is probably why it is almost impossible to find an updated book.
But I find some fabulous links online, even Spanish-Kirundi lessons; I got to love globalization for this. Thank you for the mighty internet!Besides I am currently forced to learn all the English phonetics to teach them to my favorite first grader. To be honest he is teaching me proper English pronunciation. And I love to see him being so proud to correct me. Priceless!My mother is taking the Kirundi-English part of the challenge and she doing great.So I am dedicating this kirundian love song “Kidumu - Amosozi y'urukundo” to my mother for reading my blogg even in English.
Thank you Maman.
And Thank you Papa.
I promise to write few sentences in Kirundi as soon as possible.
For a start Ndagukunda/ Je t’aime/I love you
Have a great Friday whoever is passing by this page.
Aline
Here below the full pages of Kirundi by Betty Cox:
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
My Kirundi-French-English Challenge: Kifrenglish
I decided to learn my native language again! It is Kirundi! My parents told me that I started talking really late and I used to stare at people straight in the eyes without talking. Growing up, languages were not the only barriers, but cultures and customs were too.As a result, I always look into people eyes to make sure I understand the tone, context, intention, real meaning of the words.It is all about interpretations not translations.
I do not even know which one is native or first or second. I know which one I use, do not use, can read and write or not. Growing up, I had a home language, a school language, and outside language. Depending on situations, language was mostly a tool and a concept. It was often a token of my willingness to learn and exchange. With time my first became my second. And another one became my first. They all shape my identity in many ways I cannot define but they did. Kirundi is a valley where I belong, French is a plain where I grew up, English is a woodland where I am growing.
So here is my Kirundi-French-English challenge=Kifrenglish.
I will use learn Kirundi from Betty Cox, and update my progress every two weeks. It will be challenging because I never learn how to write and read in Kirundi. And my French writing is slipping away. And at the end of this challenge I will proudly say that my native is Kirundi, my second is French and third is English. And finally make space for Spanish. I hope to be more cohesive in my multilingualism.
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