Flying through the rest of week 2 and all of week 3!!

Where is the time going?? It seems like we had just started learning about the family at the beginning of week 2. And then suddenly, we started learning things faster and faster...and I kept thinking that I was going to come home in the evening and tell all about it on this blog. But then the days seemed to just start piling on top of one another... Now here it is, Friday, January 25 - week 3 is over and we only have one week left of JumpStart Amubri!!

Three heads are better than one!  Here, students work as a team to see how quickly they can make 5 correct sentences using all the words in their envelope. 


After becoming familiar with adjectives used to describe physical characteristics and personality traits, we had lots of chances to use them as we practiced writing and speaking about ourselves and our family members.

We started off week 3 with a new theme and a new song to go with it: body parts, along with "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes".  It was funny because for as much as the students said that they didn't really like singing, they sure seemed to enjoy this song and its gestures. It got us all up out of our seats and moving. Especially once they got the instruction to sing it faster....and faster.... and faster! By the end, everyone was out of breath from moving so fast and laughing.

Here, we practiced drawing and labeling the parts of the face and body.

It got to be more fun once we had a chance to draw our monsters and everyone got to come to the front of the class to show theirs off and tell us what colors it was, along with how many eyes, arms, horns and tails it had.

We learned an incredible amount of new vocabulary this week, moving from body parts, to clothing, to talking about things that we like and don't like to do.

Once again, we ended our week with a visit from a local community leader. Eugenio Segura Almengor was born in Amubri and has been teaching Bribri language and culture at the Escuela Bernardo Drüg - Amubri's elementary school - for the past 13 years. He began his chat with a name game in Bribri where we each had to introduce ourselves and then everyone else in the circle. As he continued to speak, he spoke mostly in Spanish but frequently used words and expressions in Bribri. He spoke about his own interest in learning other languages and how important it is for these students to learn English. He mentioned having to leave Talamanca to complete his studies and how difficult it was for him. It was hard not only because he had to leave his mother, to whom he was very attached, but also because he lived far away, in Cartago, where it is cold and where he found himself surrounded by people who were quite different from him. He spoke of the kindness and hospitality that he encountered in Cartago and how, despite being immersed in another language and culture, he never forgot the importance of his own. He told these students how important it is to learn as much as they can about the outside world while remaining true to their own roots and traditions. Without coming right out and saying it, Eugenio, with his unassuming manner, was offering himself as a living example. It was a fitting end to week 3 of JumpStart Amubri.