Class Session October 16, 2010

Hello students and friends! I'm finally updating the blog! lol my apologies. I've been quite busy lately. Hopefully, I can find a volunteer that can help me out in updating the blogs whenever I am not able to. If not, that's perfectly fine. I'll do my best!

Well, so far we've been doing great as a class. With the collaboration of Neak Kru Naroth and Lok Kru Kim, the Khmer session LIVES ONCE MORE! *applauds* I'm so excited each week to see the beautiful slides for the Khmer session and I thank Naroth and Kim for their hardwork and dedication to our cause. Keep up the good work guys!

Last night, we began with Khmer session because Naroth had to run somewhere. We practiced our conversational skills with a dialogue stimulating a business transaction at the market. BRILLIANT IDEA! It was so nice to hear everyone speak Khmer! For the non-native speakers like myself, I really want to give acknowledge Danni and Phil for their talent. They've come a long way and you guys sounded great last night! As far as Tev, I think he had technical difficulties and was not able to join us last night. I'm sure you would've done well too buddy! My favorite phrase of the night was, "Tlai nas!!" With that said Kim had to be at work and was not able to attend but Naroth did an excellent job leading the Khmer session. Thank you! Hmmm is there anything else missing? Not sure. If there is, please message me so I can add to this section :P

After Khmer session was completed, Lao session began. I had intended to do a review session so that we can kind of warm up to the Lao lessons again after I was out for a week. I didn't want to introduce new material and confuse everyone. However, seeing that most of the attendees were new to me, I scrapped the "review lesson" idea and moved on to new material. PLEASE PLEASE do go back to the older class slides and catch up so we can be on the same page ladies and gentlemen! We began the Lao session with instruction on two new consonants "sor" and "sor" and two new vowels "or*" and "or~". At the end of that section we read "to play the violin" in Lao ("sii sor"). For the vocabulary session we learned vocabulary terms in regards to "Nature." I met our new student, Manilay for the first time on skype last night and I am so thankful for her help in class. She is a native Lao speaker in Laos and was able to help me in saying the vocabulary terms for everyone to hear. It's nice to have some help with the class and I'm sure it benefits the class to hear two different voices (one being male and one being female) pronounce the terms in Lao. After our vocabulary lesson on "nature" we proceeded to "telling time." By this time, everyone in the class had disappeared :\ The only people left were Sonyta, Danni, Phil, Melinda who was away, Ousa joined us later, and Lucas was still in but not on mic. Thanks guys for hanging in there :D Those who joined us for the "telling time" section did phenomenal! Keep up the great work!

After Lao session we continued to chat until dawn! Well, I fell asleep a littler earlier than that :P I just want to thank you all for your continued support. Please if you have any suggestions or comments, please take the time to message us and let us know. That'd be greatly appreciated ^_^

Announcements:

Photo submissions must be sent via email <kllanguagegroup@gmail.com>. Contest will run throughout October. Top two picks will be chosen mid-November and after that, the class will chose the better of the two picks chosen by Naroth, Kim, and I.

Prizes will be donated by myself and Naroth (from Srok Khmer!). If any one of you would like to contribute to the "prize" donations will be gladly accepted.

Don't forget that somewhere in your picture you MUST include a sign in which you have handwritten a phrase in Khmer and a phrase in Lao USING Khmer and Laotian characters ^_^

As far as the judging part is concerned, "authentic" means keepin' it real! haha jk. It just means, if you're going to be Blanka (from Street Fighter) you better be one GREEN BEAST! lol If you don't dress up for halloween have no worries! Carve a pumpkin and get creative! The most important thing about this contest is HAVING FUN and writing in Khmer and Lao! ^_^

With that said if you have any further questions, please contact the group at @ kllanguagegroup@gmail.com 

Thanks!

-Alonzo S.

P.S. The latest material for the Khmer class has been posted on the right of this page. If I am missing anything, please let me know and I will post RIGHT AWAY! Thanks :D

Class Session September 25, 2010 (UPDATED)

This is a NEW UPDATE! Here's a little introduction from our new team member KIM BUN ^_^ So Greatful to have you join us and WELCOME!! Here's a brief introduction from the man himself. Please welcome him to our class guys. I'm sure collectively Neak kru Naroth and Lok kru Kim will do GREAT!

Kim:

Hey everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself to you guys since I will helping Naroth teach the Khmer class from now on. My name is Kimheng or Kim (whichever one you prefer, I don't mind). I was born and raised in Cambodia until I was 12. Growing up in California was challenging at first because of the language and cultural barrier, but now I’m loving it! (^_^).
Both of my parents are from Kompong Spoe province (an hour away from Phnom Penh), Cambodia. I’m actually part Chinese (if you can’t tell by my chinky eyes lol) but I only know a little bit of Chinese(Te Jiew?).

I enjoy hanging out with my family and friends, playing sport (tennis, basketball, volleyball, Sey! etc.), watching Asian drama and Anime (Naruto and Bleach). I’m a tech savvy person lol. I like gadgets that make my life easier. I’m junior in college and working on getting my degree in Computer Engineering. The reason why I want to teach is simply to keep the Khmer language alive. If most of us Cambodian American don’t know Khmer, how is our future generation going to know our language and culture? For who are interested in learning Khmer and Lao, you are welcome to join us every Saturday night @ 8PM (Pacific Time).

I also made a few Khmer lessons on YouTube with my little brother. Check it out if you have time http://www.youtube.com/user/Kime0

-Kime0

New tech acct: TechnoCambo
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------------------------(original blog post continued)--------------------------------

Good evening class. I apologize for the late post. Anyhow, just a quick recap of this past weekends class:

Khmer Class:

Naroth was not able to make it to class due to technical difficulties. I have spoken to both her and Kime0, our new student who's actually been making Khmer lesson videos on youtube for quiet some time now, about possibly teaming up to teach the Khmer session of the class. It has been brought to my attention that the technical difficulties we encounter during the Khmer session has been somewhat of a distraction. I have proposed to Naroth and Kime0 that they work collectively in preparing lessons plans and then allow Kime0 (being that he does have more reliable internet connection) present the class on behalf of both Naroth and himself. So far, they have both agreed to work together. However, I do not know the specific details. I hope that I can get in contact with them soon so that I may report on our blog/facebook group. Thank you all for you patience. We really want to get the Khmer session up and running better than ever and I hope to see you all join us on Skype soon so that we can Rrien Pia Saa Khmer! ^_^ Also. I will be getting in contact with Kime0 so that he can write a brief introduction about himself that I can post on the KLLG facebook group and here on this blogspot just so you all are a little more acquainted with who he is and what he does. I look forward to our next Khmer session! ^_^

Lao Class:

We had a few people join us this past Saturday. The group was much smaller than usual. However, we still proceeded with class and I do apologize for any of you who missed out either because you weren't able to attend or because it wasn't brought to anyone's attention that you wanted to join the class. Please, if you join us late you are still more than welcomed to join the class. Just message one of us to add you to the conversation because sometimes, we get into the lesson and don't realize other people are on Skype as well. That's especially the case with me because I'm in between lecturing and going through slides, links, etc. so it's really hard for me to keep up. Anyhow. We had a review Lesson. The lesson prior to this past Saturday's lesson was quite challenging. Instead of moving on to new material, I taught the same class a second time to reinforce it for anyone who had any confusion about upper class and lower class tonal consonants. This coming class we will proceed with our lessons and I will introduce new material. However, if you still are not sure about any of the material previously discussed, once again please feel free to message me. I'm here to help you all ^_^ Teaching is an enjoyable and rewarding experience for me and I hope I am able to make the learning process enjoyable for you all too!

Lao Material from Last Class:

• Lao: Reading Lesson 6
• Lao: Actions
• Lao: Grammar Lesson 2 "What?"
• Lao: Grammar Lesson 2 "What?" (Examples)
• Lao: The Washroom "Bathroom"
• Lao: Culture "Som'mah" [Asking for forgiveness]

Announcements from this past Saturday's Session:

-On Saturday October 23, 2010 KLLG will be having a "Halloween Horror Session" Please join us for this SPOOKTACULAR SKYPE EVENT!

-I am currently in need of a job. I hope to get a job on the weekends soon as a friend is supposed to help me with that. If it be the case that I must work on Saturdays and Sundays I will NOT be cancelling the Lao Session. Instead, I will move Lao class to Friday nights and I hope you all will still be able to join ^_^ With that said though, it's not a definite thing. I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks again guys for all the continued support and I hope we can continue to better ourselves and better our group so that we may all share a positive, enjoyable learning experience!

Much love,

Alonzo Silavong

September 11, 2010 Class

Laotian Pop Culture Revolution:


Lao Pop Song by singer Sam Intharapithak "Bork Hai Khoi Hoo" (Let Me Know)




I apologize for the late post but this entry will be a very brief recap of this past week's lesson in Lao and Khmer. We had a great class with an awesome turnout. Please, spread the word and share the knowledge guys! You guys are doing so well! I must give a special shout out to Tidus and Sonyta (sorry for putting you guys on the spot) for doing exceptionally well and showing remarkable improvement in vocabulary and reading. I am so excited that you all are learning! With that said here's what we did:

Lao Class:

We had a recap before all the classes start. It was a review session for anyone who's missed any lesson. I took any questions pertaining to the Laotian language even if it had not been previously discussed. I will try to hold more of these review sessions and I'd like to see more people participate. The review sessions are somewhat of a free-for-all. You will be able to ask any question! A few people also took the opportunity to reinforce what they've already learned just for practice. The material covered in this past week's lesson are as follows:

• Lao: Reading Lesson 5
• Lao: Reading Exercise 2a
• Lao: Reading Exercise 2b
• Lao: Grammar Lesson 1 "Where?"

For the culture segment of the Lao class we briefly spoke about the growth of Pop music in Laos post Civil War. The videos have been posted at the head of this blog entry.

As for the Khmer Session we learned the titles of people in our family (i.e. mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, etc.) I am sorry but I do not have the link of the Khmer material at this time. Hopefully I will get it tomorrow night during class. If any would, please send me all the links for the Khmer material that is missing from this blog. I haven't been able to keep up with that and so far I haven't received any of these links from Naroth. If you would, anyone, please send me the links so I can post them on this blog site. Thanks!

Keep it up guys! See you tomorrow night!

-Alonzo S.


Material for tomorrow night's Lao lesson are now posted on the right! :)

Sunday Lao Class

Above is the link for the culture section of tonight's class. It describes the story behind the Lao New Years celebration.

We held class this evening for the Lao students and it went great! Great turnout and an exceptional new student, Sonyta!

Once again, I apologize for not being able to make it to class these past couple weeks. However, I'm glad we all got to catch up tonight and for those of you who missed out, don't worry! I have posted links to new material (Reading lesson 4 and "At Home") on this page in the links section of the Lao class. If you have any questions please ask me! I will also skim through this material next weekend before beginning new material.

We started the class out this evening, reviewing from Reading exercise one (accessible in the links section). I explained how the exercise works and by the sound of it, you've all got it down!

After reviewing the consonants and vowels from previous lessons, we continued with a whole new lesson. Today we covered not two but FOUR consonants, FOUR vowels, and two sets of vocabulary terms. Please refer to the following links:

• Lao: Reading Exercise 1
• Lao: Reading Lesson 3
• Lao: Days of the Week
• Lao: Reading Lesson 4
• Lao: At Home

I initially planned to teach only one lesson. However, judging by the progress we all were making and the fact that we began much earlier this evening, I added another lesson to what I had originally planned to teach.

You all did great! Remember to practice your tones as the Laotian language is tonal. As far as the vowel sounds, remember that there are short vowels and long vowels. Laotian days of the week are very similar to Khmer days of the week and as far as the vocabulary for "today, tomorrow, yesterday, etc." you all did awesome! Keep it up! For the "At Home" section I felt like we all had it down but the reason I didn't get too critical on pronunciation part of it was because I did not want to bombard you all with so much information in one sitting. Do not worry! I will go over "At Home" again next weekend.

With that said, after class the students were able to teach me some Khmer as well and I am very grateful! I look forward to teaching you more and also LEARNING from you all. I've got the Lao language down for sure but the Khmer language is yet another language I feel I MUST master one day! I appreciate all your help in teaching me Khmer (Not just Naroth, but all of you).

To wrap things up I just wanted to say, don't be afraid to learn! Don't be afraid to mess up! To learn is to speak and to speak is to learn so I encourage you all to please study, practice, and ask questions! It's the best way to learn. I hope to speak Laotian with you all one day!

Goodnight Class,

Alonzo S.

No Lao Class this Saturday 28.08.2010

I will not be teaching this Saturday. I hope you guys continue with Khmer session ^_^ Have fun see you all next week!

-Alonzo

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.

Welcome!

Welcome to the offical, "KL Language Group" blogspot! I will use this blogspot account to post previous lessons and any announcements in the event that you are not able to join us on Saturday night's via Skype. Please feel free to contact the KL Language Group instructors here regarding questions or comments. Thank you. Kop Jai and Awkun Jaran!


-Alonzo S.