September 22, 2006

  • Whew

    Well.

    I won't be getting any awards anytime soon, but I got through two
    teaching-assistant experiences with no undue problems. I guess. I am
    sure I talked too much, but what else is new with me?

    I'll work on that part. The students need to do the talking, after all
    -- it's their seminar. I'm going to attend some TA workshops, and
    perhaps those will help me learn how to make things go more smoothly.
    It doesn't seem too hard to lead a seminar if you're watching someone
    who's good at it. As usual, though, when you're the one in the hot
    seat, it begins to occur to you that a little training might not hurt.

    I was euphoric on Thursday afternoon after turning in that week's
    seminar grades (did I mention that I must grade short written responses
    the students have to hand in?), but now I'm face to face with the
    craggy, rocky hill of next week. I'm going to make it though. I've got that part determined.

    My husband is coming down to visit me this weekend, thank goodness.
    Doing without him is the hardest part of being a student, harder than
    all the readings, writings, and arithmetics that school can throw at me.

    Anyway, before I wander off all exhausted and get blissfully
    unconscious, I thought I'd pass along an interesting website I found
    called the Speech Accent Archive.
    It allows you to listen to people from all over the world saying a few
    words in English. I am sure it is useful to linguists, but I thought
    the variety of accents was fascinating, especially across the United
    States and in different areas of England.

Comments (11)

  • Yay for you! I give you a lot of credit that is a hard thing to do and you pulled it off.

    I think that Speech Accent Archive sounds very intersting. I just went and listened to the Chicago accent. Yes, that sounds like a Chicago accent.

    Have a great weekend!

  • :wave: Stopped by to wish you a very nice weekend! God Bless You. ~~May~~

  • I hope you have a wonderful visit :)

  • Ok, if I haven't yet told you, I'm insanely jealous of you and your TA-ing position. To say that my love of seminars erases every worry that I once had when I considered returning to school might seem even more hyperbollic than my so called insane jealousy, but I can't deny the truth. Just remember that the purpose of a seminar is to allow the students to learn the material themselves, so your role is at most to lead them to the lines of inquiry that will take them to the understanding they need to find. That being said, I would never be comfortable sitting back while a seminar missed the point, so I'll be talking as much as you are once I'm blessed with the opportunity to TA.
    It's great to hear that you're getting to enjoy some quality time with your husband - although you're not subject to the confusions that many of us single students feel, I can imagine that the separation leads to some corollary stresses that I don't feel.
    Best wishes, R

    PS - Grim's response to Harald as to why he does not want to serve the king is a thing of beauty - if only everyone could show such honesty in the face of a threat.

  • HERE is a BBC project on UK regional accents if you have time to look & listen to more.

    I know you'll have a great weekend!

  • Glad you got through the teaching assignments.  I assume you enjoyed them?  Have a lovely visit with your honey

  • My goodness. You make me tired just reading. I am such a slug compared to you. :sleepy:

  • I hope you and your signifigant other have a great visit! :sunny:

  • Hope you had a nice time with your husband over the weekend.  How long will you be apart?

    I will definitely check out the accent link your provided.  That sounds neat.  I wonder if they will have someone speaking with a "Kansas twang".  LOL

    Good luck with your teaching.  I think it's great that you are looking at ways to improve.

    Kathi

  • Thanks for that link. SOOOOO interesting

  • You live on campus? That must be very hard.

    Thanks for the link. It was interesting to hear the differences even among the same language but different areas. (for Punjabi)It would have been interesting if they had been able to put the Whistling language of the Canary Islands.

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment