We used the strategies
and flashcard games as previously described because we felt they were the most
effective for the situation. Although we were all relaxed and sitting or even
laying on the floor (as the son began to do also) comfortably, I continued to
monitor my nonverbal and verbal actions. I continued to shake or nod, point and
clap, and cheer when appropriate.
It was probably after the
second half of the number of total visits that I brought in new materials to
teach the family more common vocab words.
I brought in more because the family was improving a lot of the previous
sets (their flashcards and my partner’s color flashcards), and I did not want
to bore them with the same words over and over again. We continued using the
previous sets, however, since the family still sometimes hesitated when identifying
some words. I brought in two more sets of flashcards and some tubs of miniature
items I borrowed from the curriculum library. These flashcards also had both
pictures and words, but one of them had a tub of matching items. The other tubs
have new items that did not have corresponding flashcard, so we had the family
write the new words on more paper strips. The family was also resourceful
enough to have their own notebooks and papers to write on, but the strips were
more useful when we did the flashcard games.
The new flashcards and
items included words such as car, cat, heart,
hat, bell, bus, (basketball) ball, and house.
I think the miniature items added a fun side to the new vocabs because they
were amusingly cute and also they provided more visual charm and extra help to
the words as the family learned them. Learning seemed more effective when the
senses are involved, so we tried to appeal to the five main senses as much as
possible – using things for sight, saying the words for sound, and having the
objects to touch. However, we decided not to incorporate the smell or taste
senses into the teaching of our words. Using the 2-D objects, we had the family
match up the word strips that they had written to those objects. The family
seemed to enjoy touching the items. The son and his little sister enjoyed
playing with the items also. They really liked the miniature vintage-looking
camera. They kept clicking on it and aiming it as if they were taking pictures;
it was very cute. The mom also smiled and laughed at the items when we showed
them to her.
It was interesting to see
the family recognize some random words. When we came to the word ball, we showed them a basketball, and
the son immediately said, “Basketball!”
When we showed them a school bus for the word bus, he recognized it and said “School bus.” Even more
interestingly enough, when we showed them a banana, they both knew it and said,
“Banana.” I will never know how or why they knew spider and banana, but I
thought it was curious in an amusing way. They had definitely made a really
steady progress in the fluency of their vocabulary. I was always delighted when
they recognized words and solved the matching games quickly. It was still more
difficult for them to match a picture to a flashcards that we laid out than to
match words to pictures laid out, but it was all right. All they needed was
repetition and frequent practice.
On the last visit, we
greeted each other with the same smiles and greetings, but when we left, our smiles
goodbyes were different from our previously exchanged farewells. During the
last few visits, I had brought candy along for everyone, but especially for the
children because I understood that they were like any other American child who
liked toys and sweets. The mother did not eat any, but the son and the little
daughter loved the candy. On the last visit, I also brought candy along, so I
guess that did not help them realize that it was our last visit to them. My
partner and I had contemplated how we were going to let them know that it was
our last, but since they did not understand English sentences, we decided to
use the calendar they had on their wall. For our earlier visits, we had always
marked the Wednesdays on their calendar (because we visited them on Wednesdays),
indicating that we were going to return that day during that week. As my
partner and I were leaving, and the mother was seeing us out, we pointed to the
Wednesday of the next week and attempted to convey our messages by saying “We
are not coming back next week because today is our last day” while shaking our
heads. The smiled on the mother’s face disappeared, and she looked confused for
a short while. But eventually, she seemed to understand, and the look on her
face made my heart felt a bit heavy.
As we were leaving, she had the children also come out with her to say
and wave goodbye to us. It was a very heart-warming gesture. We waved back,
returning their smiles and gestures. For the last day, we had to rely heavily
on nonverbal communication through the pointing at the calendar and the shaking
of our heads. I learned that some nonverbal interactions are mostly universal
even between different cultures, such as smiling and hugging, because the
mother gave us hugs after she realized it was our last day. I also know that
not all gestures are acceptable or universal in varying cultures, so I will
keep those and others in mind during my future interactions with people from cultures
different from the American culture. I may even use the strategies I used with
my refugee family if I meet someone who does not speak English well, or at all,
such as my nonverbal strategies to help the person better comprehend my verbal
words and/or the messages that I try to convey in our conversations.
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