Yes, I realize that my last post was a while ago. Yes I also realize that I created a part one but neglected to post a part two. Perhaps neglected is not the correct word though, perhaps “too preoccupied” would work better. What was drawing my attention? Firstly, I had been coming down with a cold virus, the symptoms of which stuck around for a little over two weeks. Nearly every volunteer has been infected with it at this point. Less than a week afterwards I had some gastrointestinal pain that caused some discomfort but I will spare you the details. I mention the sickness first because of it's effect on the rest of my schedule which I will delve into momentarily. The blog will receive regular attention from here on out:
The past four weeks have been filled with language training, some technical sections, and the beginning of practicum. My days are fairly long and are usually exhausting. PST (pre-service training) is packed with a lot of information; people began to realize this after the second week as the language instruction became more complex. I do find it difficult to digest everything quickly, especially in the midst of living in a new country, getting to know a host family, and dealing with the stress and exhaustion associated with learning, adapting and being sick.
Language: Learning Romanian is difficult yes, but not impossible. I once saw Romanian ranked as the 9th most easy language to learn for English Speakers. It is most similar to Portuguese and, as with English, it borrows heavily from French. Consequently, there are many cognates. It also uses the Latin alphabet, a huge plus. I have studied Spanish in the past, which allows me to appreciate and understand Romanian's Latin core.
I have been fairly successful in my studies, though I do not study as much as I should. My teacher told me I do very well and I personally feel that I am making decent progress. At any rate, I have faith that the language will continue to seep into my brain and within a few months I will have a solidly posses a low-advanced ability level in conversation.
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Technical Training, despite the appreciated efforts of our guest presenters, is almost always dreadfully boring. I often fall asleep during the lecture (at least I did while I was sick). There were a few good lessons, such as the medical and safety and security sessions. The sessions on teaching English I found do not appeal to my learning style, nor does the environment we are working in (a room packed with smelly, hot volunteers for three hours on uncomfortable plastic patio chairs). I suppose I would rather sit on the ground.
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Practicum was an experience that I both valued and hated. I valued it because it was a great opportunity. Groups of five were sent two by two to different schools around the city to teach English lessons to English classes. My group started at școala opt (8), a primary school near my training site. I taught a 4th grade class a few times and observed a number of classes, including those of my fellow trainees. After two weeks we switched to Liceu trei (Highschool three) on the other side of town. I was fortunate enough to teach the same class all three times, the smaller, more advanced 10E class. They were well behaved, good students. I taught English lessons with the subjects Science and Technology, Natural Disasters, and Theater.
On the other hand I really disliked this experience (maybe hate is too strong a word) because the groups were thrown into these schools without knowing the students, their language abilities (indeed many classes were mixed levels), without the ability to discipline or follow up on the information we taught. Some volunteers struggled with discipline, and some of the teachers we were working with were … less than enthusiastic. In fact, there seemed to be a discipline problem in general in many of the classes. There were some teaching styles I witnessed that I found very odd and very unlike the American school system to which I am accustomed. Lesson planning, because of this lack of experience and information regarding the students, I found very stressful. I look forward to having my own students, beginning fresh, having actual authority, and making a meaningful impact.
Romania is a very interesting country with some oddities, some annoying qualities, and some amazing characteristics. My next post will deal with my experience here in Târgoviște.
