We have finally begun!!! Our amazing Elders have been asking for months for us to teach them English classes. Well, we have had our first two weekly sessions and they have been so fun!
It is good to laugh together and succeed together!
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| We began with vowel and consonant sounds. Did you know the soft sound of the letter "i" (like it or itch) is not in the French language?? Neither is the sound of the letter "h". These sounds are a challenge to pronounce if you have never heard them before. Even when you take the french pronunciation of the letter "r" and try to say the English sound, it is tricky! We were crowing like roosters on that one! |
During the second session, we livened it up a bit with a digraphs and diphthongs video. It was very catchy and really helped the missionaries.
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| We also gave them a printed copy of the digraphs, diphthongs and blends. Next week, we will start on suffixes. |
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| Do you realize how many suffixes there really are? We are only teaching the most common ones. |
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The best parts of the class are the smiles and the laughter!"
"To everything there is a season...and a time to laugh." (Ecc 3:1,4) |
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| Some of the Elders know quite a bit of English, but love the review. They had studied English in school. They told us today that it had been a long time since they had really used their English. It is coming back to them well. They have great questions and really have a desire to speak English! Gaining the use of the English language will greatly enhance their future job opportunities. |
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| This morning, Elder Frogley had them role play " meeting for the first time " and using greetings with responses. I was very impressed. They are fast learners and can put things in context well! |
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| One of the Elders had never attempted learning English. He was actually reading sentences today!!! When he read his first sentence last week, he jumped up and ran around the table clapping and laughing his very own unique chuckle! We all cheered right along with him!. It has been a joyous blessing for all of us! |
"See that ye love one another; ...learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires." (D&C 88:123)
We're so happy to see that the English classes have begun. Tell them how happy we are for them and how brave we think they are. We're so proud of them. This will bless their lives. Give Elder Mpoyi and extra pat on the back. Thank you for teaching them. Tell them we expect to speak to them in English when we see them in Kinshasa and Point Noir!
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