Staffing

Butter has lived with our family for the past sixteen years.  He faithfully checks our windows and growls at approaching squirrels.  I do not presume to be Butter’s owner.  Let’s say I’m part of his staff.

These days, he visits the vet twice a week to receive infusions of fluid.  The crew at Cherokee Animal Hospital is excellent, the care expert and relatively inexpensive.  Some days, I think that cat receives better medical care than we do.

While we’re away, Amy Ramsey, will be visiting Butter each day, scooping his litter and carting him to the vet.  In addition to being our church business manager, she’s  an animal lover.

Details, Details

Thirty-five years ago, I read Blackberry Winter, anthropologist Margaret Mead’s autobiography about her early years.  I wondered why she went on for pages about her preparations to work in places such as Samoa, but not now. Mind you, I never work anyplace where you cannot buy batteries, nor am I gone for years at a time. But even a modest, short term project like ours requires a lot of gear: cameras, batteries,  a laptop, electricity converters, a portable data projector, the American Heritage Dictionary, wiffle balls, wiffle bats, and an American football. I could go on, but you get the idea.

My friend and colleague, Dr. Kathryn Sharp (pictured above), loaned me her largest valise and included a traveler’s journal.  But when I measured the suitcase, I found the combined total of its height, depth and width was 67 inches, and Delta Airlines’ limit is 62.  The trips to China had left my suitcases moribund, so I made my way over to TJ Maxx and got new ones.  For a price. 

Will the Real English Language Please Stand Up!

Among those teaching English in the Czech Republic, there’s said to be rivalry between Americans and Brits. Some Brits believe that theirs is the only authentic English. After all, the language originated on their island.  But the Brits did not stay home; they spread English to every corner of the globe, and they lost control. The Englishes of India, Australia, and North America are all somewhat different, though for the most part mutually intelligible.  Such varieties of a language are termed dialects.

Which of these is the “real” English?  In a way they all are. Languages change to reflect the experience of their speakers. New words are added, and sounds change.  

English is very malleable. Unlike French, we have no scholarly academy to decide how our language is to be changed. The English speaking public decides on what new words and idioms  to adopt.  We do it by consensus. No one said it better than Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Language is a city to the building of which every human being contributed a stone.”

Below: Linguistic map of English usage.  The dark blue indicates regions where English is typically a first language.  Pale blue indicates secondary usage of English. There are also many "third tier" or "expanding circle"  areas where English is used as a language of commerce or international communication.

The project begins to take form

Yesterday, we met with Rev. Michelle McKinnon-Young and her husband Gary, an English teacher, computer expert and church musician. Now, I know a little more about the project we will be working on.  For the past year, the couple has been living in the Czech Republic under the auspices of the United Methodist Church, and they’re home on a very brief leave.  They’d asked for help in running a series of week-long English camps.  Pastors, clerical workers, and youth are the target audience. Structured English camps are the ultimate goal.

Thing is… these things take time to get started. Gary and Michelle have done formal publicity, but it takes time for locals to value a project and feel comfortable with the teachers. Much publicity occurs via word of mouth.

To begin with, we will be working with very small groups, which is actually my favorite form of teaching.  Until numbers increase, we will have the luxury of individualizing each student’s program.

Below:  Pictures of Gary and Michelle

Across the hall....

I grew up in New York City, a community where people don’t speak in the elevator and feel compelled to move quickly.  East Tennessee State University is in Johnson City, a more relaxed place where people have time to say “Hi.”  Still, ETSU is a large organization. I know lots of people by sight, but I don’t know much about those I don’t work with directly.  

Last month, I learned that one of the graduate assistants is a native speaker of Czech.  Jana Dobesova works in Warf-Pickel, 417. My office is 414, right across the hall. She’s in the counseling program, which isn’t in my department, but I’d seen her around.  A shame I didn’t know sooner. We met a few times before the semester ended.   She told me and Joe about Prague and allowed me to practice my minimal Czech.   

She’s gone home for the summer, and we hope to see her in Prague.

Can a rodent learn Czech?

Some days, I don’t take my Ipod with me on walks.  The Pimsleur material I’m using to learn Czech is designed to foster recall. However, keeping at it is an act of the will; it’s dreadfully boring. 

The audiolingual method, which the Pimsleur method uses, is based on behaviorism, a nineteenth and early twentieth century concept of learning which examines how the actions of living things are shaped by forces within their environment. Behaviorism eschews the exploration of thought, focusing instead on stimuli and measurable response. Much early work in behaviorism concerned animal learning and utilized rats.  While there may be similarities in the learning of people and rodents, the analogies aren’t perfect.  Rats don’t have language.

Behaviorism has had a profound effect on American education. The current emphasis on phonics in reading education and on performance testing overall is fundamentally a resurgence of behaviorism.