World Citizen At 2.5 years old

During my stay at El Venado, a family run estancia in Argentina owned by professional polo player Federico Cendoya, I also met ‘Juli’ as we affectionately call him in Spanish or rather Jules-Henri in Flemish and French. At almost 3 years of age Juli can be considered a world citizen thanks to his jetsetter Yummy Mummy Stefanie Verduyn. Their home base is in Belgium but they spend 2 to 3 months a year at El Venado enjoying the estancia, horse riding and playing polo. Additionally, Stefanie travels frequently in search of fashionable accessories and shoes for her chain of boutiques in Belgium. Consequently, Juli has already traveled to Argentina, Morocco, Italy and France.

While JAM’s motto is ‘Never Too Late to Learn’, we concur that it is definitely never too early! From the time that Juli was in his mother’s belly, he listened to Language CDs. Growing up in Belgium, he is exposed to Dutch at home. As a baby, he also had a friend ‘Nelly’ who spoke to him in Russian and read to him Russian Fairy Tales. Most recently, he has started French lessons once a week. During his holidays at El Venado, he is exposed to Spanish and English and consequently, now back in his homeland only speaks to the dog in Spanish :) Having spent time with Juli at El Venado, it was amazing to see how quickly he picked up new Spanish and English vocabulary. His mother Stefanie prioritizes her child’s education and saids “I try to expose Juli as much as I can to other languages and cultures”.

Juli is pictured above in traditional 'Gaucho' attire.

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English Immersion Program

I have spent the last 6 weeks playing polo @ ‘El Venado’ a beautiful 2,500 acre family run estancia owned by professional polo player Federico Cendoya located just two hours outside Buenos Aires on the fertile grasslands of the Argentine Pampas.

During my stay at El Venado I met some very interesting and lovely people. Among them was Antonia Monckton. Antonia grew up on her family farm in England constantly surrounded by visiting guests who were there to learn English and immerse themselves in English culture. Her mother Mary Chapman ran a ‘Total English Immersion Program’ from their lovely home in the English countryside.

Mary Chapman was a primary school teacher and through a friend came into contact with the coach of the Spain Riding Team. The riding team had come to England to train and the coach was having difficulties communicating as he spoke no Spanish and the team members spoke very little English. Antonia’s mother was asked if she would teach the ridding team specifically ridding English vocabulary i.e saddle, stirrups, bridal, canter, gallop, trot etc to facilitate communication between the students and the coach during the riding lessons. She truly enjoyed the experience and decided to carry on thus creating an English Immersion Program. Besides learning the English Language, the guests also had the opportunity to learn English manners and culture. I asked Antonia a few questions about what it was like to grow up in a full house filled with visiting guests:

“It was very interesting to meet so many different people. They were all from different walks of life, backgrounds and culture. They were totally immersed within the family environment. We shared all meals, coffee and teatime with the guests. Breakfast was at 8AM followed by lessons from 9 to 10:30AM. Then the guests had a coffee break with the whole family (Antonia has two older brothers). Then they went back to lessons with Antonia’s mother between 11 to 12:30PM followed by lunch with the whole family. Then it was back to lessons between 2 to 3:30PM followed by an English Tea break. Lessons would resume again until 5:30PM. The guests then had free time to enjoy the farm and many would enjoy horse riding or walks around the property. The guests and the entire family would gather for supper at 8pm.

The guests were from different backgrounds from complete beginners to advance level and many were top management or executives sent on the program by their companies. My mother used scenario and role-playing to facilitate the lessons and would also video tape the students to improve their business English. It was interesting to see the general pattern of all the students. Initially they were very excited and by the 2^nd week they would start to get frustrated. Then shortly there after “it clicks” and you really started to see a huge improvement."

Pictured above is Antonia Monckton playing polo @ El Venado, Argentina

Social Cohesion

There is a common train of thought that when you move to a new country you will need to learn the language to help you assimilate into your new culture that you are living in.

Not so in Britain (or in many western countries for that matter) where different cultures, religions and languages are not only accepted but openly welcomed. The idea of not needing to speak English has been passed down through the generations. The result has been generations upon generations of native speaking enclaves / communities who have no contact with their English speaking neighbours. Brick Lane by Monica Ali highlighted the problems faced by illiterate, non-English speaking women in the Bangladeshi community of Tower Hamlets.

As quoted by Mrs Laura Bush in an earlier blog ‘Literacy builds the foundation’. In parallel to this, I believe that the inability to communicate with our neighbours has created more divisions in society. Do we value the freedom of speech (to worship whomever we want and to say whatever we want) over social cohesion?

(reference: http://www.communityesol.org.uk/community-esl-teaching-english.htm)

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FROM VENEZUELA TO NORWAY

I migrated from Venezuela to the USA when I was a kid.  My mother had been having a long distance seven-year romance with a Cuban American and we moved to Miami, Florida in 1984 when the couple finally decided to wed.   Back then there were few Venezuelans living outside of Venezuela and I found myself explaining to most people that it was a country in South America next door to Colombia J The political scene, placing Venezuela in the media, in recent years has however changed all of that.   Today, besides Venezuela’s petroleum and politics being shipped out for export so is the country’s most precious resource, its engineers, many with over 20+ yrs of experience in the Petroleum industry.  They are leaving in search of political and financial stability and Norway with a stable economy and booming petroleum industry provides just the haven.  The only caveat is well the cold winters and the language barrier. 

Even as a young kid the cultural and language transition, I know from personal experience, can be painful so I sympathize with my cousins who recently moved to Norway.  Hender Alejandro Nava, 16 and Paola Nava, 18 have been attending to their studies in Norwegian and the English language (both languages being foreign to them). Their older sister Patricia Nava, who is due to graduate this November with a Chemical Engineering degree from Zulia University in Venezuela has a head start being fluent in English, but will ultimately face the same challenge as the rest of her family should she follow in her father’s footsteps and pursue a career in Norway. 

I interviewed Paola Nava in English and was impressed by how quickly she has captured the English Language.  When I asked her what has been the greatest challenge in trasitioning to Norway from Venezuela she said:  

"The people and the language.  In Venezuela, I did not have contact with other cultures but in Norway my classmates are from all over the world, France, China, Ethiopia, Germany etc.  The Norwegian language has been more difficult to understand than English because it's unlike anything I have ever heard."

When I asked Paola what she enjoyed the most about Norway she replied: 

"The security.  I can walk anywhere without the fear of being kidnapped or harmed."

During the 1960s large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in Norway.  Today, Norway ranks as the wealthiest country in the world, with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation.  Norway is the world’s seventh largest oil exporter and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product).  

Norwegian (norsk) is a North Germanic language and the official language of Norway.

Pictured above from Left to right is Hender Alejandro Nava, Paola Nava, Lourdes Nava and Hender Nava. 

Check out BBC interview (fall 2008) on the subject of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's current president.

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Kenya - Mutara

During visit to Nairobi, Kenya, my best friend and architect Natalie Waters and I had the opportunity to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Centre located in Nairobi National Park.  This is the “Nursery” where both orphaned baby elephants and Rhinos are taken after they are rescued.  At the Centre they are looked after 24 hours a day and raised by a group of keepers which go to the extent of taking turns sleeping with the orphans in their pens. The emotionally and physically rehabilitated elephants and Rhinos are ultimately re-introduced into the wild in Tsavo East National Park. 

The visit inspired me to learn more about elephants and as it turns out, they have an interesting way of communicating.    Elephants have an instinctive body language and telepathic abilities.  They also communicate with a spoken language that they learn from other elephants, some sounds of which are audible to human hearing, but also communicating over distance with low frequency infrasound hidden to human ears.  Additionally, they can detect and interpret seismic sound through their sensitive trunks & feet, a phenomenon which was confirmed when in Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami disaster in Asia, trained elephants in Thailand became agitated and fled to higher ground before the devastating wave struck, thus saving their own lives and those of the tourists riding on their backs.

JAM Language Ltd. is the proud sponsor of MUTARA, an orphaned elephant who arrived at The David Sheldrick Wildlife Centre, July 20th, 2009 as a week old baby and a victim of poaching.

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JAM English Flashcards; Fruit & Vegetables

Kenya - Mombasa & Swahili

Mombasa is Kenya’s vibrant coastal city on the Indian Ocean. Home to the Swahili tribe in Kenya, one can visually see the influences left behind by more than twelve centuries of contact with Arab traders;  the mosques, the calling sound to player and the parade of Kaftans and Hijabs.

Swahili comes from the plural sawāḥil (سواحل) of the Arabic word sāḥil (ساحل), meaning "boundary" or "coast".  Swahili is a language adapted from Bantu and enriched with vocabulary from the Arabic (35%), Portuguese and Hindi Languages.  Swahili is the national language of both Kenya and Tanzania and is also spoken widely across other Eastern and Central African countries. From the Comoros islands, Zanzibar, Burundi, Rwanda, northern Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, and southern coastal Somalia.

The Swahili tribe are coastal people with very rich historical and cultural heritage.  Some of the earliest inhabitants of the East African coast were their ancestors, Cushitic herdsmen. The Cushitic people were joined by Bantu speaking tribes.  Other groups later migrated to this coastline, including Arab, Hindi, Portuguese, and Indonesian traders. They, too, intermarried with the indigenous people, giving rise to a new culture, people and language.

The Arabic culture though has had the greatest influence in shaping Swahili traditions. One major legacy of the Arab culture is the prevalence of the Islamic religion among the Swahili people. Swahili children, for example, must attend Madrassa - religious classes in which they study the Koran and learn the Arabic language -from an early age.

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Kenya - Kikuyu Wedding

My dear friend Sammy Njenga is Kikuyu. The Kikuyu tribe are bantus and neighbors of Embu, Mbeere and Meru tribes along Mt. Kenya. They are the most popular and largest ethnic tribe of Kenya making up 22% of Kenya's population. The Kikuyu language is predominantly spoken thriving to the point of becoming Kenya’s third language of choice, English and Swahili being the first two.  In keeping with Kikuyu traditions, the visiting wedding guests and bride received the complete trimmings of the rich traditions of the Kikuyu culture.    Sammy is married to Cecilie Folkestad, a gorgeous ‘saucy’ witty Norwegian with a quick tongue ☺, when I first met her I knew straight away they were perfect for each other.   So it was an honour to not just witness the union of two friends but also the union of two completely different cultures.  The wedding day started in true Kikuyu fashion with Sammy’s family parading to Cecilie’s home dancing and singing in Kikuyu demanding that the bride be handed over.  Cecilie and her family played their role in stalling the convoy at their doorstep for as long as humanly possible thus extending the singing and dancing to the amusement of everyone.   The short clip captures the moment and is a beautiful sample of Kikuyu song and dance. 

Kikuyus have historically influenced leadership and politics in Kenya.  The current president, his Excellency Emilio Mwai Kibakis is Kikuyu and so is Professor Wangari Maathari, Africa’s first female Nobel peace price winner and the first environmentalist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace.  

Sammy is fluent in Kikuyu, Swahili, English and is currently undertaking the challenge of Norwegian.

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Kenya - Maasai

  My friend Sammy Njenga’s wedding celebration finally brought me to Kenya.   During the 6 years I have known Sammy he has never failed to remind me just how much I would enjoy adding Kenya to my travel circuit.  I wish I had taken his advice years earlier as the place is bursting with natural beauty although in my opinion the country's biggest hidden treasure is it's people.

  Enthusiastic to finally have the chance to showcase his homeland, Sammy organized the most decadent of itineraries.  A traditional Kenyan wedding celebration in Nairobi followed by Safari in Maasai Mara and then complete relaxation in Mombasa bathing in the Indian Ocean. 

  It was during the trip to Maasai Mara that I stumbled across the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Project.  Virgin Atlantic worked with Sarova Hotels, Water For All and 10 frequent flyer volunteers from Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club to renovate the Senekani School.  The project focused on revamping the boys & girls dormitories and adding shower facilities. This upgrade qualified the school with ‘boarding school status’ and therefore allowed the school to qualify for government funding.   The school founded in 1989 provides education to over 650 Maasai children in the Sekanani Township.  This was just 2Kms away from where we were staying at Sarova Mara Game Camp.

  The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group located in both Kenya and northern Tanzania. They speak Maa, a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer. Maasai is taught in schools to some extent, though the languages of instruction are Swahili and English. There is a Maasai dictionary, a Maasai translation of the Bible, and a few other publications, but generally the language is primarily a spoken language.

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JAM English Flashcards: Fruit & Vegetables

Laura Bush and Literacy

Krsna Harilela is a Senior Editorial Producer with CNN International and as a part of her job she arranges for high-profile interviews. A few weeks ago she traveled to Paris to produce an interview with Laura Bush for International Literacy Day. I know that Mrs Bush’s trademark interests are education and literacy and I wanted to get the inside scoop from Krsna!

Krsna: “It was fascinating on several levels, I was excited to meet the former First Lady- and being a fiend for news and all issues relating to US foreign policy… it was intriguing to meet a first hand witness to one of the most controversial presidents of our time. But there was a bigger reason to why we were there and that is because Mrs Bush was there as an ambassador for UNESCO and was there to highlight problems with literacy. 771 million adults cannot read…think about that… that to me seems outrageous… and I think collectively we can do better to put this right!”

Mrs Bush’s love for literacy has been reflected in all she’s accomplished so far. With her love to read books she became a teacher and eventually a librarian. When she became First Lady, she made education for children and women one of her main priorities. She has established The Laura Bush Foundation which raises funds to buy books for libraries in America. But she also uses her profile and her international travel to urge governments to invest in the education of their people.

She was also made an Honorary Ambassador for United Nation’s Decade of Literacy and in this position has hosted a number of conferences on global literacy.

“Literacy is at the core of sustainable solutions to the world's greatest problems. Literacy builds the foundation for freedom from poverty, freedom from disease, and freedom from oppression.”

Mrs. Laura Bush

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JAM.HOW FOR TEACHERS

Energetic & Enthusiastic?

1. Quiz your student during a 1:1 session for vocabulary, pronunciation and memory recall
2. Spread JAM and split the class into small working groups
3. Play & Learn.  Teams competing to recognize JAM words, keep score and watch the competitive nature unfold
4. Define: a word with your back to the board  
5. Add JAM cards on the back to school 'must have' list

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JAM English Flashcards: Fruit & Vegetables

 

JAM.HOW FOR EVERYONE

Language Lovers & Survivors

1. Learn: a new word a day on the go 
2. Quiz yourself:  memory recall
3. Take with you while you wait...doctor's office, airport, bank, post office, bus stop, tube stop...
4. Take JAM with you everywhere, even to private places ...we'll leave it to your imagination :)
5. Leave laptop & instead take some JAM on holiday
6. Play with friends (memory and snap with 2 JAM packs)  

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JAM English Flashcards: Fruit & Vegetables

 

JAM.HOW FOR KIDS

Yummy Mummy & Delicious Daddy 

1. Quiz your 18+ month toddler.  Why limit their vocabulary to just Apples & Bananas?
2. Have more than one adorable little one?...get them to quiz each other

3. Two packs and you have memory snap game

4. Decorate your child's bedroom with JAM 
5. Put JAM in their lunchbox for some break time educational entertainment

6. English is not their native language?...perfect! children have the greatest potential to absorb & retain new language skills!
7. Gift JAM to their adorable little friends.  Their Yummy Mummy & Delicious Daddy will toast you!

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JAM English Flashcards: Fruit & Vegetables

Pictured above is Charlotte 'strawberry jam baby', a member of the JAM BABY CLUB

SOCOTRA

I made up my mind to travel at 8PM and by 10PM, I was exchanging 34,000 Yemeni rial (169 USD) with a travel agent who had agreed to meet me near my home in Sana'a at Mosque Abubaker.  Cash is King in Yemen and credit cards are rarely used as a means of payment.  I had purchased my ticket to the island of Socotra and was scheduled to depart the next morning at 6AM.  I had made no other prior arrangements for transportation or accommodation on the Island and despite the lack of encouragement from friends who advised it was monsoon season, there was no other place I wanted to be.

And so my adventure began.  The flight made a stop over in Mukalla, where we picked up the Socotra football team.  This only became evident when the team started chanting following our successful landing on the Island after a turbulent flight caused by the strong winds.

I am probably the first Venezuelan woman on the island.  Visitors to the island prior to 2000 were few and in fact no records have been kept.  In 2000 there were only 140 foreign visitors, 1000 visitors by 2005 and 2,500 visitors by 2007.  This hunch was confirmed by Ismael Mohammed, my guide who had spent 10 years working for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) on a project to develop ecotourism.  He assured me  there had been no other Venezuela women on the island :) :)  Ismael trained all of the Socotri guides and was involved in the development of the first Eco hotel.     He speaks fluent Socotri, Arabic and English and he has utilized his education to fight for the two things which he is most passionate about. One, ensuring that the financial benefits generated by tourism in Socotra benefit the local Socotri community with minimal environmental impact to the island and two, to ensure that the Socotri Language is not lost.

Socotri is a spoken language and it is estimated that only 80,000 people mostly in the Socotra archipelago, mainland Yemen, Oman and a small immigrant community in UAE still speak the language.  The Foundation for Endangered Languages which supports the documentation, protection and promotion of endangered languages has listed Socotri as an endangered language.    On the island of Socotra,  Arabic and English are the languages taught in school and the young generations rarely have exposure to socotri. 

The Socotri people are poetic by nature.  They often communicate among each other through spoken poetry and during gatherings and celebrations the village poets gather for extended sessions of improvisational poetic song which can last for days.  In an attempt to save this important part of the Socotri culture, Ismael spends his free time documenting these now rare sessions of poetic song steered by the elder members of the village.         Ismael’s main concerned is  that Socotri poetry will be buried along with the death of the village elders.

Socotri is the language of the native population of the island of the Socotra archipelago. It is one of the Modern South Arabian languages (MSAL) and is usually classified as a South Semitic language.

Socotra is 3,500 sq km with an altitude of 1,519 m.  The island is only 240 KM off the horn of Africa but high winds and seas isolate it for five months of the year making it  one of the most inaccessible places on earth.  The island was under British protection from 1886 until it became part of South Yemen in 1967.  

July 2008, Socotra was identified as a world heritage site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

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A Student Essay

One of the most rewarding privileges of being  a teacher is having the opportunity to read student essays.  The laborious task of in class written assignments and homework gives the students an opportunity to contemplate a variety of ideas and experiences.  The end result gives the teacher a glimpse into the students’ dreams, aspirations, fears and life stories.   

The following essay was selected among over 60 written assignments I reviewed during my English teaching stint at Mali Institute in Sanaa, Yemen.    I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have always dreamed of visiting my village because my parents and relatives have always told me that it is charming, beautiful and worth-seeing.  They told me that It would exceed my expectations. So, I decided to visit the village. I  finally visited it last month with my dad and family.

When we arrived, I was surprised because it was much better than I had expected.  It really is a unique place with its river, springs, green mountains and hills.  I quickly realized that the village is worthy of being the most famous of all.  I was really excited when I saw the houses on the top of the mountains among the clouds.

The people are very generous and kindhearted. While we were chewing Qat, they were telling me folk stories and jokes.  They are also open-hearted, modest and distinguished by their simplicity and informality.  Because of their sweet demeanor I have felt that there were no boundaries between us.  Of course there were no amenities such as; supermarkets, gyms, clubs etc..., but there were many things which are not available in Sana’a such as tranquility and quietness.

Although I was saddened by the poverty and illiteracy in the village, I have enjoyed my time there.  It was a unique experience in my life and through my journey I found out that living in the countryside is better than living in a city.  

This essay was written by Salah Towfeek Altwaiti, one of my Level 6B English students.  He was among three Air Traffic Controllers from Sana’a International Airport which were registered in my class.  He is married with children and he dreams of one day traveling the world to learn about other cultures.   In his essay he describes his visit to the Ibb Province.  

JAM Language Ltd, English Flash cards; Fruit & Vegetables available at AMAZON UK and AMAZON USA

Education = Peace

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School At A Time.

A teacher friend recommended that I read Three Cups of Tea and I couldn’t put it down. It tells the story of Greg Mortenson who manages to successfully establish schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

His aim is to balance the extremists madrassas by providing an alternative - free, unbiased education for both girls and boys. The first village he helped was so poor they could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. I hadn’t realised that this was one of the main techniques that the Taliban employ – by financing schools and providing free education to the poor they are able to recruit students easily as there is / was no other alternative.

I know that education can sometimes be taken for granted particularly by those who have had unlimited access to it. I can’t imagine my life without the schools I went to, the things I’ve learnt and the experiences I’ve taken away with me – they have contributed to make me the person I am today. In the same way, I would hope that the girls and boys who go to one of the schools funded by Greg Mortenson and the Central Asia Institute (CAI) will make evident how important education is as a part of the peace process.

If you haven’t read this book - read it and be inspired!

JAM English Flashcards are now available!