The title today is a bit deceiving because I wanted to mention that the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia came to speak to us yesterday but I don't have a lot of time to write about his talk. I will mention that all of the Armenian language trainers wore yellow ribbons to his presentation to show their support for the stance he has taken regarding the Armenian genocide in 1915. I encourage you to learn a bit about the tragedy as the impact is still felt here today. We have a wealth of books on all kinds of topics available to us but I don't have much time to read. As soon as my schedule frees up a bit I will do some research and provide you will more historical/cultural information about this event and others (if you're interested). I did check out one book, it's called Armenia: Portraits of Survival and Hope by Donald E. Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller. The jacket says it's a "remarkable view of how geopolitics affects ordinary people." Ordinary people are the center of my work and the motivating factor behind my decision to be here so I thought I might enjoy this book.
Today we had our first LPI. An LPI is basically a language competency exam. It was all oral but I think it went well. I managed to converse for about 20 minutes with my interviewers and they responded so I think they at least managed to gather my message. That's the goal for now. I need to work on my tenses and for some reason I completely forgot the ending to say 'in'. For example I would say sentences like 'I worked office' or 'I live Ohio' which I'm sure was pretty entertaining. I know the ending...it's 'um' so I should have made statements like: "Yes ashkhatel officeum" but I guess it didn't stay with me during the exam. The exam was a good benchmark though, and an eye opening experience because we are now officially halfway finished with training. In a few short weeks we'll be sent out as really PCVs...
Introducing Emelyn Ruth Bornstein
9 years ago
5 comments:
Sarah,
I just put in my name for the book you are reading. We'll compare notes....there are only 2 copies of it and I'm first on the list so I should have it next week. I've read some articles about the genocide in Armenia. Hang in there with the language. I read where they put their nouns before the verbs which would just have me totally confused. Love, Mom
Sarah,
Maybe your mom will share the book with me....at least tell me about it on our walks. Sounds like you are doing a great job with the language. Your neighbor, JB
Grandma and Grandpa Hoffer Say HI and hope you're doing well!
Love, Uncle Tom
Thanks for all the great entries teacher Sarah! I love you!
H*
The US ambassador to Armenia was recently relieved of his duties because he was being too vocal of his views on the US government's unwillingness to recognize the 1915 tragedies as a genocide, even though Prez. Bush promised to officially recognize it as such during his 2000 campaign. I am curious if you met the new ambassador or the one who was fired...
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