Graduation...India

April 5’09 – cONGRATS! It was my BEst and HAppiest graduation... my beloved mom and dad was there with happy faces. My aunt Medy, Uncle Bagly, nephew Giel Rryj, Nieces Jelyrr and Geri Liezl, and Cousin Myrlle Kris also came to celebrate with me. It was my happiest because after all my life’s ups and downs while at AGS, God rewarded me in His Mercy, Grace, and Love.

When I went to India in January, I never thought I'm going back to that place again. But 1 month after my first visit to India, our program director told me that there is an invitation for Filipino Teaching Assistants to help teach in the Wycliffe India General Linguistics Course training that is going to start in July 2009. So...

Visa Granted - On the 16th, Robyn and I went to Manila to process our visa on the 17th. For almost a day, we were at SIL Asia Area Office near megamall. When we were about to send our applications to the courier, we were told that it will cost more than P2,000.00. Sso without thinking, I said, “Kami na lang po ang magdadala.” The next day, we found our way to the Indian Embassy. After less than an hour, we were told that our visas will be released the next day. PTL, we got our visas the next day. We thank our Lord for His provision and favor at the embassy.

Phonetics is the study of Human speech sound. The four areas of focus in our study of Phonetics are Recognition, Production , Analysis, and Symbolisation of speech sounds. (Bickford, et. al)

“I Love Phonetics!” That’s the first thing I might have told myself when I accepted the privilege of being trained as an Articulatory Phonetics teacher in 2008. When I took Phonetics in 2007, I was not good in the four areas mentioned above. I was just good in Recognition and symbolization. But as a teacher, I realized I have to be good at all of them. When I joined ALP @ AGS in 2008, my mentor said I was good in production. But in WIT, I was hesitant to give dictation exam to the trainees when I was told that my voice lacks resonance. I decided to just give the responsibility to my co-TA because of that and did paper works like exams instead. It was a hard time for me but I thank God for the encouragement that comes from Him. I had to accept the truth that I have an angelic voice. As the Christmas song says, “Soft as the voice of an angel”. ;-)
Yes, being a TA is not that easy. Sometimes, instead of thinking about God, whom we serve, I tend to think about pleasing the people (students and co-teachers and mentors as well). I was reminded of the personality test I took a few months ago; the result says, I am a performer and I realized it came out during this time. Despite my weakness as a teacher, God in His grace, mercy, and love has given me the privilege of being a part of the teaching staff of WIT 2009, and this is what I am grateful for.