Entry Four: The ABCs and 123s of SSC-India

September is a month that is primarily known for one thing: the start of school. Many of my friends back home have recently completed the first month of their new masters program, their new classroom, or another year of undergrad/high school. With this in mind and as my training and my work primarily circles around early childhood/pre-primary education, I find it my duty to teach you my loyal readers the ABCs and 123s of my time here in India,

ABCs - the lingo

Now it is not uncommon for me to be talking to a teacher or a student at Holy Cross and for there to be a misunderstanding/miscommunication due to the language barrier, this I expected and we sort through it easily. What I did not expect was for was the confusion in some of my conversations with my friends back home. So to negate any further confusion I have decided to make a dictionary of my current vocabulary. (I apologize for the lack of alphabetical order)

A

Amma

Origin: Malayalam

1. Mother

Accha

Origin: Malayalam

1. Father

Ay-yo

Origin: Malayalam

1. Oh my goodness

Aymanam

Origin: Kerala

1. The village that I am living in

2. Pronounced I-men-nam

B

Bus Rides

Origin: no particular

1. Our weekly Friday adventures where we ride the school bus after school

2. How we get into Kottayam

Bucket

Origin: Trey Sir

1. Common phrase - Take a bucket

2. A bucket shower

C

Churida

Origin: India women’s dress

1. My work clothes

2. A cross between a shirt and a dress

3. Long in the front and the back slit on the sides

4. Worn with leggings or baggy pants cinched at the ankle

Congregation of Holy Cross

Origin: Blessed Basil Moreau

1. The congregation that Stonehill is apart of

2. The congregation that founded the school I am currently working for

3. The congregation whose seminary I am living in

Coconut Oil

Origin: Coconut

1. Used for everything, cooking and hair products alike

D

Da da

Origin: Malayalam

1. Bye-bye

E

Elephants

Origin: no particular

1. I have seen elephants!

2. They are so smart!

F

Father

Origin: no particular

1. The awesome people I live with

2. People who are deeply respected in the community

3. Lizzie Ma’ms father who came to visit for a week

Function

Origin: The people here

1. A special event

Ex. Wedding function, function related to funeral

G

God of Small Things

Origin: An Aymanam Resident

1. A book written by Arundhati Roy

2. Takes place in Aymanam

3. A great read if you want to get a taste for Indian literature

H

Homesickness

Origin: Connecticut

1. Missing important days, such as my brothers first day of high school

2. Missing my friends

3. Missing Camp

4. Missing home and home culture

Hypermart

Origin: Aymanam

1. A shop that is walking distance from the seminary that we often go to to fuel up on snacks and toiletries

I

J

Junction

Origin: The people here

1. Describes an intersect, often used as a reference point

Joy Mall

Origin: Kottayam

1. A wonderful mall in Kottayam where we do some of our shopping

2. A place that has A/C

Journalling

Origin: no particular

1. A habit I have gotten into while in India and I have found it very helpful in the growth process

K

Kerala

Origin: India

1. The state within India that I am in

Kottayam

Origin: Kerala

1. The closest city to us

2. Where we do the majority of our shopping

L

Lights, Camera, Action

Origin: Camp Jewell YMCA

1. Movement break, hand motions

2. The beginning of a song in LKG or UKG

LKG

Origin: India’s Education System

1. Preschool

2. Lower Kindergarten

M

M’am

Origin: Holy Cross School

1. Instead of Ms. Revay, Ms. R, Ms. Lizzie, I am referred to here as Lizzie M’am, though most shorten it to m’am

Malayalam

Origin: Kerala

1. The language of the people of Kerala

2. One of the 1,652 languages spoken in India

N

Nursery Rhymes

Origin: LKG and UKG

1. The songs that I sing with my students

2. Movement break

Ex. wheels on the bus, baby shark, incey-wincey spider

O

One, Two Three, Four, FIve STOP Quiet Sit

Origin: LKG and UKG

1. Count on fingers and have students repeat after me

2. How I get my young students to quiet down if they are being rambunctious or if after a particular exciting lesson or song

P

Pickle

Origin: Indian Cuisine

1. Not Cucumbers that have been pickled (soaked in salt water), aka what we Americans recognize as pickles

2. A spicy red sauce made with fruit, mango pickle, lime pickle, etc.

Q

Quickly

Origin: The obnoxiously difficult English Language

1. Synonymous with the word fastly, but the grammatically correct version

2. A word that I am working on with my sports practice student

R

Rupee

Origin: India

1. India’s Currency

2. The exchange rate which is getting progressively better for Americans due to some Trump thing, but much worse for people here (1 dollar : 72 rupee, an exchange rate that was 1:68 when I got here)

S

Safety Pins

Origin: no particular

1. a girl’s best friend

2. the only thing keeping my shawl on my shoulders instead of the ground

Saree

Origin: India women’s dress

1. Meters of fabric that are wrapped around you to make a dress

2. Very difficult to walk in

3. Props to the women who wear these everyday as they are fabulous

Standard ___

Origin: India’s Education System

1. Grade

2. Standard One -> 1st grade (6 yo.)

3. Standard Two -> 2nd grade (7 yo.)

4. Standard Three -> 3rd grade (8 yo.)

Sue - ca - mano

Origin: Malayalam

1. How are you

Sports Practice

Origin: Holy Cross School

1. The sports practice that Trey Sir and I run in the morning with Brother Jessel for selected students in 5-8 grade

2. My excuse to relieve the glory days of high school when I used to run indoor track for my high school with some pretty awesome people. (Canada, Gibbs, little freshies, and Em this is a shout out to you!... oh and you too LT)

T

Tea

Origin: The community of Holy Cross/Aymanam

1. A period of time in which you visit the homes of teachers and students

2. Malayalam ->Chai-ya

Tea Tree Oil

Origin: The first-aid section of CVS

1. Used to deter ants from getting in my bed by rubbing it on my bed frame once a week

TEFL

Origin: Online

1. Teaching English as a Foreign Language

2. The online class I have recently been taking

Tricky Tricky

Origin: Pre-India Lizzie Vocabulary

1. Lizzie M’am is about to challenge her LKG/UKG students

2. motivator and excitement builder

Teacher’s Day Celebration

Origin: India’s Education System

1. A day to celebrate all that the teachers do for their students

2. An assembly in the morning where the teachers are featured playing games and singing songs

U

UKG

Origin: India’s Education System

1. Kindergarten

2. Upper Kindergarten

V

Venda

Origin: Malayalam

1. No more food, I am full *still puts more food on plate*

W

Wake-ee Wake-ee

Origin: Wake-ee Wake-ee Eggs and Bake-ee

1. time for LKG students to wake up from their nap it is time for Conversational English with M’am

*The “w” sound is difficult to pronounce for those with a Hindi/Sanskrit based language. It often comes out sounding more like a “v” sound to my ears so I often practice this sound with students.

X

Y

Z

*This letter really only has American significance, so I think I’m going to forget it just the same. They even spell my name Lissie here, half the time.

*Note: I really did try to get all the letters, but I am not quite there yet, I do however plan to come back to this article at another time to continue and complete

123s - a look at the numbers

“M’ams” I hear in one day, an average from one week: Approximately 200… I did count one day and I lost track about half way through the day at 150

Spiders I have seen in the Seminary in one day: 1ish per day… but they are approximately the size of my hand so I feel like that evens it out in an Americans perspective.

Lizards I have seen in the Seminary in one day: About 10… Usually if you are sitting and look around any room/classroom/bedroom you will at least find one

TV shows Trey and I have watched in the evenings: 5 Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Sherlock, Game of Thrones (yes I have finally seen GoT), Westworld

Days the school is trying to make up because of the flooding: 15, made up on Saturdays instead of the end of the year

Days I have been here (as of 9/29/18): 95

Days until the last day of school (as of 9/29/18): 184ish

Funny Student Quotes - kids say the darndest things

Every teacher/camp counselor knows that their kids (students) say the funniest things, our students at Holy Cross are no different. Here are just a couple of the funny things my students have said:

“Happy good day” - UKG students

“BEER” - a sixth standard student exclaimed as the adults quietly discussed alcoholic preferences

“Magic Mike” - the nickname that a second standard student gave to “Ma’m’s Magic Microphone,” also known as my water bottle that magically turns into a talking stick when we are playing

“Gosh is another word for God right?” - a ninth standard student as we discussed common English phrases during

Pictures from the two weddings We have been to so far:

NEWBORN BABY GOATS

My dad likes to take photos

Alleppey Beach

Put my feet in the Laccadive Sea

Alleppey House Boats

Dad learns how to eat with his hands

Oh how they love to be in pictures