"R" Review with Rory and Aurora

Hi there! It's been a while since I've posted on here. Now that I have some more free time, I'd like to start posting more regularly. In particular, I'm eager to write more about my experience earning my Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CertTESOL)—wow, that's a mouthful!—in Cádiz, Spain in summer 2011. For now, I'll share this little tidbit.

I've always felt that my English "r" (International Phonetic Alphabet: [ɹ]) has sounded a little off, and I've been rather self-conscious of pronouncing words such as "girlfriend," "weird," and especially "rule." One of my favorite classes I took at the University of Florida was Spanish Phonetics. We practiced lots of tongue-twisters to improve our accent, and I found them tremendously helpful. So, I've invented my own tongue-twister to help me correct my [ɹ] problem:

"Rory Roland's really weird girlfriend Aurora Rudin regularly re-routes rural jurors to Rutgers' rear recreation room where rules and regulations regarding rural breweries are rarely re-written."

Or, in IPA, /ˈrɔː.ri.ˈrəʊ.lɪnz.ˈrɪ.li.ˈwɪərd.ˈgɜːrl.frend.ˌə.ˈrɔː.rə.ˈruː.dɪn.ˈre.gjə.lər.li.ri.ˈraʊts.ˈrɜːrl.ˈdʒɜːr.ərz.təʊ.ˈrʌt.gərz.ˌrɪər.re.kri.ˈeɪ.ʃən.ˈruːm.weər.ˈruːlz.ən.ˌre.gjə.ˈleɪ.ʃənz.ˌrə.ˈgaːr.dɪŋ.ˈrɜːrl.ˈbruː.əɹ.ˌriz.aːr.ˈreər.li.ri.ˈrɪ.tən/

When I'm alone (for example, in the car), I recite this sentence several times, until my mouth is actually a little sore. I usually end up laughing to myself. It's been helping a lot, and I'm feeling more confident with my "R"s!

~

Alright, maybe I'm showing off a little here with the IPA. But, hey, it's good practice using the IPA keyboard layout I've been using for Mac OS X to type with SIL International's Doulos SIL font. Both are highly recommended!

At the 18th Fall Esperanto Gathering (Part 3 of 3)

Legi tiun ĉi blogaĵon en Esperanto.

[This post is the third and final part of a three-part series on my weekend at the 18th Fall Esperanto Gathering.
Here's Part 1.
Here's Part 2.]

Monday, October 10^th was the third and final day of ARE 2011. After the official close of the Gathering, I bought a copy of La Eta Princo, the Esperanto version of the famous French-language short novel, Le Petitie Prince.

La Eta Princo, (Esperanto version of Le Petite Prince)

The book itself is beautiful, with a sturdy hard cover, and color drawings from the original author. I read a bit of the original when I was studying French, but it was difficult for my intermediate-level command of the language. I read a lot better in Esperanto, and I definitely understood it better and got more out of it this time.

We chatted (still in Esperanto) on the way back to Albany, and after we had lunch, Chris and Kaitlyn left for Rochester. I spent the rest of the day playing Frisbee at the park with my friends in Albany. It felt strange to speak English, and several times I nearly blurted out words in Esperanto: “iru, iru!” (go, go!) “jen!” (over here!), “ho, ve!” (ugh, damn!), “ĉuu??” (really??), etc.

I was sad to be away from Esperantists, and apparently, my brain felt the same way. 

Kaitlyn, me, and Chris at ARE 2011

~

At the 18th Fall Esperanto Gathering (Part 2 of 3)

Legi tiun ĉi blogaĵon en Esperanto.

[This post is the second part of a three-part series on my weekend at the 18th Fall Esperanto Gathering.
Here's Part 1.
Here's Part 3.]

On Sunday, October 9th, I woke up, ate breakfast, and ran in the forest by the lake. The weather was unexpectedly warm, and the forest was beautiful. I had nearly finished my run, when I passed by the main meeting hall and saw everyone about to take the group picture. Fortunately, I arrived just before they took it.

After that, I came back to the house where we were staying, showered, and cooked a vegan lunch with my housemates. Chris also cooked delicious vegan cookies. Score!

That afternoon, Chris gave a lecture entitled “The other language problem: Why are languages dying? Does it matter?” Minority languages are dying out all over the world, as people are learning more widely spoken languages. For example, Native American languages are disappearing in favor of English. So what? Do ideas and culture get lost along with the language? What can we do about it?

Of course, as Esperantists, we all had a lot to say, so we ended up re-arranging the chairs into a circle, and discussed the topic as a group.

It was still beautiful out, and after the discussion, Normando led us on a walk through the forest, showing us different species of plants and birds. (All in Esperanto, of course – so cool!)

Our walk through the forest

That night, we played board games and card games. My favorite game was the Esperanto version of Bananagrams. If you've never played, it's like Scrabble, but much faster. Everyone plays against each other and races to build crossword grids using all their letter tiles. There are no turns—it happens all at once and it's a race to the finish.

Bananagrams in Esperanto

Another wonderful day in Esperanto-land.

~

At the 18th Fall Esperanto Gathering (Part 1 of 3)

Legi tiun ĉi blogaĵon en Esperanto.

[This post is the first part of a three-part series on my weekend at the 18th Fall Esperanto Gathering.
Here's Part 2.
Here's Part 3.]

At the 58th National Convention of Esperanto-USA in 2010 in Washington, DC, I met a lot of friendly Esperantists. Two of them were Chris and Kaitlyn from Rochester, New York. I visited Chris in January, but aisde from that, we hadn't seen each other in a long time.

A while ago, Chris told me about the 18th Fall Esperanto Weekend, which would occur October 8th–11th 2011 in Silver Bay, New York. I now live in Albany, four or five hours away from Rochester, and on the way to Silver Bay, so the three of us decided to attend the convention together.

As a side note, the convention is officially called la Aŭtuna Renkontiĝo de Esperanto, or ARE for short. “Are” (pronounced ['a.ɾe], AH-reh) is also Esperanto for “as a group.” Esperantists seem to appreciate clever names.

Chris and Kaitlyn came to Albany on Friday, October 8th, and stayed with me overnight. We and three of my friends made a bonfire at my friend's house. It was cold out, so we enjoyed the heat of the fire. We chatted (in English – booo) [my friends here don't (yet) speak Esperanto] about various topics, including linguistics, economics, and vegetarianism.

On Saturday, we left for ARE. First, we stopped to eat lunch and to buy food at the Honest Weight Food Co-op, a cooperative grocery store in Albany. I love that place. There are tons of fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers, and also a variety of prepared vegetarian foods.

When we arrived at the convention,

The main meeting hall at ARE

there was a talk about go, a board game originally from East Asia. I've never played, and the talk seemed really interesting, but I unfortunately and embarrassingly fell asleep during it. In my own defense, I was really tired from the previous night and from driving.

After that, we payed for the convention (only $5 each, as students), and went to the house where we would be staying.

Our house at ARE

There were around thirty people in all, and about half of us were staying at that house. We cooked vegan food together (many of us were vegetarian or vegan), ate dinner, and returned to the main meeting hall.

There, Normando Fleury, president of the Quebec Esperanto Society and organizer of the convention led some ice-breakers. First, we split up into small groups, and introduced ourselves to our group. Each of us chose a color from a list, and explained to the other members why he chose that one.

Everyone chose a color, and explained to the other group members why he chose that one.

Next, we sat in a large circle, and everyone presented himself to the whole group, saying his name, where he comes from, and three words to describe himself. I chose the words “thought,” “learning,” and “cooking.” There was a variety of responses, many interesting and thought-provoking, and several funny ones, for example, “I don't know.”

Finally, we each received a small paper that said “Ĉu vi…” (“Do you…” in Esperanto) and wrote a yes-no question on it. Normando collected the papers, mixed them, and passed them out again. Then, everyone read his new question, and everybody either stood to reply “yes” or sat to reply “no.” Again, there was a variety of responses, but the one I most clearly remember is “Do you speak Esperanto with your pet?” I stood up for that one.

I really enjoyed the ice-breakers. In my opinion, Normando organized them very well, and they were especially well-suited for this kind of language gathering. If/when I teach English as a foreign language, I'll definitely borrow his ideas.

After that, we returned to our house, and played Dixit, a card game which I actually played for the first time in Esperanto, at the Summer Esperanto Study run by the Esperanto website lernu! in Slovakia in 2009.

The first day of the convention was great, and I fell asleep smiling, happy to be among Esperantists again.

My name badge for ARE

~

Remember Yesterday, Plan for Tomorrow, Live Today

Today may be just an ordinary day for the Universe, but for me, it's very special. Twenty-two years ago today, I entered the world.

Life is a precious gift, and I feel I have a duty to enjoy it, preserve it, and share it with others. Every day holds something new to be appreciated and something new to be learned, and today is no exception.

~

In the days before Hurricane Irene hit New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg held several press conferences. After his announcements in English, he took a moment to summarize everything in Spanish. His accent is pretty bad, and he makes a lot of errors, but he gets his point across. I give him a lot of credit for trying to learn, and for getting up in front of the camera and speaking.

Several Soothing Seeth

[Previous Post: TYLE: The Last Mile]

Blog-worthy experiences have been occurring much faster than I can write about. As awesome as that is, I'm glad to finally have a bit of quiet time at home, and I'm really looking forward to sorting through photos, recording memories, sharing experiences, and reflecting on lessons learned.

I returned home from Spain to Albany a little over two weeks ago, on Sunday, August 7th, and rather promptly flew to South Florida for a week to visit my mom, grandmother, aunts and uncles, cousins, and friends. My brother Jesse also came down from Connecticut, and we had a wonderful time.

We arrived on Wednesday, August 10th and immediately met our mom for dinner at Sublime, an entirely vegan restaurant and bar in Fort Lauderdale. In contrast to my vegetarian ways, Jesse is a "meat-and-potatoes" kind of guy, but he thoroughly enjoyed the food. Veggies: 1; Carnivores: 0.

On Friday, August 12th, we went to Rapids Water Park for some relief from the heat. That night, Jesse and I visited my aunt and uncle in Miami for delicious food (including vegetarian items for me), fine wine, and great music. I brought my trumpet with me, and my uncle (on sax) and I jammed out to jazzy beats from his electric keyboard. I didn't have my trumpet in Spain, so my "chops" were a little out of shape, but we both played well, and had a lot of fun.

Just under year ago, I bought an annual pass to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure in Orlando. It pays for itself after three visits, and I had only been twice, so I was dying to go a third time. My friend Heidi lives in Orlando, and, fortunately, she was able to go with me, even if only for a few hours.

On Monday, August 15th, I left my mom's around 1pm for a three-hour trip, and drove straight to Orlando Watersports Complex for an hour of wakeboarding. I hadn't been in a long time, and I really enjoyed the thrill of skidding across the water, as well as the intense upper-body workout.

Heidi and I met at WWoHP just after 6pm (parking is much cheaper after 6), and we stayed until they closed at 10pm. The only word I can use to describe it is…"magical."

Hogwarts Caste, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Orlando, FL

My last day in Florida was Wednesday, August 17th, and I spent it with my friend Lindsey, whom I hadn't seen for eight months. After catching up over lunch at Panera Bread, we went back to her house for a bit.

Lindsey and Me, August 2011

I play the piano. Quite well, I'm told. I can't play any "real" songs though; I usually just sit down, pick some chords, and see what happens.

There's a piano in Lindsey's living room. It's a bit out of tune, and its cracked, chipped keys reveal its age. But for some reason, when I sit down at that piano (I've played it on several occasions), a whole lot happens. Melodies come out that I've never played before. Powerful variations on familiar chords seem to appear out of thin air. I lose myself in the music, and forget where and when I am. I'm a rather scientific and down-to-earth person, but somehow, I feel that piano has a soul.

That evening, I came back to Albany. The next day, Thursday, August 18th, my friends Scott, Kipp, and I went to the Altamont Fair, which comes into town every year just down the street from home. I went nearly every year as a kid, and going back brought up fond memories.

This weekend, my dad and I cleaned out the house and had a big garage sale. I'm not terribly artistic, but I tried my hand at some posters to advertize. I was quite happy with the results.

Garage Sale Poster, August 2011

We did pretty well at the garage sale, and cleared up a lot of room at home.

On Saturday night, my room was a mess, I was exhausted from a whirlwind of traveling, and I found myself in a bad mood. I happened to have the movie Up, which had arrived a few days before from Netflix. I popped it into my laptop, and watched with the doors closed, the lights off, and my headphones on. I laughed louder and cried harder than I ever had during a movie, and felt like a new person when it was over.

This is known as "self-soothing" in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a system incorporating elements of mindfulness and acceptance from Buddhist meditative practice to help persons struggling with mood disorders, and, in my opinion, is applicable to and useful for everyone.

Yesterday, my dad and his girlfriend Rena brought Scott and me to see the play West Side Story. I'm not really a theater person, but I did enjoy the show. The plot was a little slow for my taste, but I really liked the dancing and the live orchestra. Afterwards, they treated us to dinner at a Thai restaurant with a wide selection of vegetarian options.

This week, I'm happy to have time to relax and plan for the short- and medium-length-term future. I've got some good stuff in store, and I'm really excited for the next several months of my life.

~

Mr. Harry The Piano plays the Harry Potter Piano Theme in "every style known to man." (Via Jordon Kalilich)

Very cool video: Doodling in Math Class: Squiggle Inception "A squiggle within a squiggle within a squiggle." (Via Marcy Rosenbaum)

TYLE: The Last Mile

[Previous Post: Here, There and In Vejer]

[Next Post: Several Soothing Seeth]

I woke up on Monday, August 1st slightly groggy from a weekend of partying, fun, and travel, and surprised my roommates with a traditional American breakfast of egg and cheese sandwiches. They raised their eyebrows at the ketchup I squirted on top, but once they tried it, they admitted it was tasty.

Coffee has never been my thing, but Spanish coffee is actually really good, and I developed a taste (and even a slight dependency) for it during my stay. One of my students (on the program, we co-taught English classes to groups of Spanish students) was from Colombia, and she had given me some Colombian coffee as a gift. I made it for the first time that morning, and it was even better and stronger than the Spanish stuff. Mmm.

Today was the first day of our three-day extension course on teaching young learners English (TYLE). It was a much lighter schedule (9:30AM–2:45PM) than we'd had on the TESOL course (9:30AM–7:00PM, with a lunch break), meaning we'd have the afternoon to ourselves.

After class, we received our grades: I was thrilled to pass with a B.

Trinity Certificate in TESOL

My roommates and I went home to cook lunch after picking up some vegetables at the bustling farmers' market that opened daily directly in front of our school. Antonio played guitar and sang while we prepared a vegetable paella with some vegetarian side dishes, then ate on the rooftop terrace as usual.

Vegetable paella on our rooftop terrace

After that, we went to the beach to enjoy the evening sun and the refreshingly cool water.

Tuesday, August 2nd was the second day of the TYLE course. In addition to observing videos of teachers and discussing textbooks and methodology, we did a role-play activity. Each student was given a role card, explaining that he was a seven-year-old student in an English class, and had a unique special feature. For example, one student's feature was to constantly ask to go to the bathroom, another's was to always shout out the answers, and another's was to repeatedly ask to change seats.

We were taught a mock lesson, acting out our roles, and trying to figure out what everyone else's feature was. At the end of the activity, we discussed the strategies the teacher had used to manage the classroom. It was a lot of fun, and very informative.

After class, I met with our program's career advisor to talk about my plans for after the course. I knew I wanted to teach somewhere in Spain, but I didn't want to stay in Cadiz. The sun and the beach are nice, but I don't do well with heat, and I prefer mountains and greenery. Also, Cadiz is a small, rather quiet city with the nearest airport an hour away, making it difficult to travel around.

For these reasons, my career advisor suggested Bilbao, a large city located in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

And so, that evening I planned an impromptu trip to Bilbao for the weekend. I searched around on Kayak, and found a surprisingly reasonable fare for Friday morning from two-hour away Seville, meaning I would leave Cadiz Thursday evening and spend the night in a hotel. (See, the airport thing is inconvenient.) It was then that I realized tomorrow would be my last full day in Cadiz.

~

Here, There and In Vejer

[Previous Post: Certifiably Certified]

[Next Post: TYLE: The Last Mile]

Despite a few logistical mishaps, I have safely arrived home!

After an eight-hour flight from Madrid, I arrived in Newark, NJ around 4PM yesterday, Sunday, August 7th. At the customs office, I was informed that my bag had not made it over the pond. At the terminal, I was informed that my connecting flight was delayed until 11PM. Fed up with air travel, I decided to take a train to Albany, and arrived home around 10PM.

Having travelled for over twenty-four hours, I had hoped to sleep well last night. I set my alarm for noon, but woke up this morning at 6AM. That's noon Spain time. I guess that's what they call jet-lag.

Anyway, I slept a few more hours, and then picked up my bag, which fortunately arrived in Albany earlier today. Things are quickly returning to normal, and I'm glad to be home.

Now, where did we leave off. Ah, yes, I had just completed my TESOL course (full story coming soon), and I was enjoying my time off.

The students in my program (fourteen of us, including me) had come from many different places, including the United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, and Australia. On Sunday, July 31st, several of us visited our English classmate Alice and her Spanish boyfriend Juan in Vejer de la Frontera, a small hilltop town a two-hour's bus ride from Cadiz.

Vejer de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain

Our escorts took us to a quaint restaurant/bar, where the menu included good vegetarian 'tapas' (Spanish appetizers, commonly served at bars), and delicious mojito(e)s.

Classmates and Friends in Vejer de la Frontera, Andalusia, Spain
From left: Jakcy(USA) Esme (Wales), Me(USA), Alice(England), Juan(Spain), Matthew(Poland), Daphne(Greece)

We then drove down to the hill to the beach, where we met our American classmate Jenny and her Spanish husband Fernando (there must be something about those Spanish guys…) and enjoyed the sun and the refreshingly cool ocean.

Me and Jenny, one of two other Americans in the TESOL program

That night, my Welsh classmate Esme's brother and his girlfriend arrived to visit her for a few days. My 'gaditano' (Cadiz-dwelling) friend Antonio took us all to a restaurant with both creative vegetarian dishes and traditional Spanish favo(u)rites. In addition to being really nice and a great friend, Antonio was handy to have as a tour guide: he marked on a map some of the best sights for Esme's visitors.

I had thoroughly enjoyed my weekend off, and felt refreshed and ready to take on the three-day young learners extension course, which would begin the following day. (Full story coming soon)

~

"Smart cards," credit cards with an imbedded microchip for extra security, are increasingly common in Europe. Most American cards rely on magnetic-strip technology, and don't have an imbedded microchip, which can cause problems for American travelers. My re-loadable Cash Passport came in handy a couple of times in Spain when my regular card didn't work.

The plural of 'octopus'. Is it 'octopuses'? 'Octopi'? 'Octopodes'!? Find out more in this video from Meriam-Webster Online. [Via Scott Giminiani]