August 21, 2010

Thank you guys! We had a great turnout again tonight. A few new people joined us and I hope you all enjoyed the class. It seems like we're all doing great. As far as the Lao session I see a remarkable improvement in pronunciation and accents! You guys are doing great with the consonants and vowels as well. As far as the Khmer session we had fun talking about "poop" for 15 minutes lol. It was raining in Cambodia so the Khmer lesson didn't go as smoothly as usual due to connection problems. Despite the many technical issues we had an awesome night and I'm glad we pulled through. Thank you everyone for your patience! ^_^

The Lao materials covered tonight were Lao Reading Lesson 2, Lao Colors, and Lao Reading Exercise 1. For next week we will go over Lao Reading Lesson 3 and Days of the Week. (Please refer to the links on the right.)

The Khmer materials covered tonight were, Khmer Months and Khmer Formal and Informal expressions. (Please refer to the links on the right.)

One thing I noticed tonight was a few off colored remarks and somewhat rude comments that were made. I want to remind everyone that this is a positive learning group and any off color remarks will not be tolerated. You will be kicked from the chat. It's all about getting together to learn and share ideas with one another. Please don't bring any 'bigotry' to the group. I understand we all joke and have fun but I treat any comments like that seriously because even if I am not offended by certain comments or jokes, I do not want anyone else in the room to feel the least bit uncomfortable. Please guys. Let's remain positive. I apologize if I came off irritated tonight but I was trying to help Naroth continue with her lesson smoothly despite the technical issues.

I want to remind you all that although Naroth and I are so grateful that you all allow us to share our knowledge of the Lao and Khmer languages with you guys, we are also volunteering our time and efforts in making this class happen. We try our best to direct the lessons smoothly and keep things moving along. Neither one of us are educators by trade so we try to go with the flow of things and help make the experience enjoyable. If you have suggestions on how or what we should teach, by all means please let us know! I just feel that it would be more appropriate to do so via Facebook or Blogspot as opposed to "Aren't we supposed to be learning this or that" or "Nextttt". The group is comprised of students of all levels of proficiency so we help one another as we move along throughout the lessons. I ask that those of you who pick up quickly or are already fluent to please have patience while we move from topic to topic. I think with cooperation, respect, and just an overall positive energy the class will be an awesome learning experience for everyone! ^_^ Naroth and I will continue trying our best to prepare for each class session and if we receive any input from the class we will definitely work to cater to you!

With that said though, once again I was very impressed with all your progress and grateful that you all join us on Saturday nights. Keep up the excellent work guys! Have an awesome week and we will see you next weekend.

By the way, we have decided to teach the class earlier. Instead of beginning at 10 o'clock p.m. pacific standard time, we will now begin Saturday classes at 8 o'clock p.m. pacific standard time! ^_^ See you all there!

Many Thanks!

Alonzo S.