Slowly but surely is most apt in describing my progress. I did waver for a bit (lack of motivation, lack of devotion) and I could sense the disappointment in my teacher’s eyes. But yesterday he looked at me with pride. When he did dictation and I made very little mistake. Yes, I’m doing much better. We are now learning how to combine the consonants and how the big sound changes the sound of the vowels. It was a little confusing at first as the changes are very minuscule. I used to ask WHY all the time too because it didn't make sense to methodical brain. Now I don’t even bother. The teacher has this mantra that he says all the time. “Don’t ask why, you must JAM! (remember)” Ok Lok Kru, I will remember.
Pronunciation was a breeze but a big obstacle I had in the beginning was associating the sound with the symbol. I think that’s a problem with many Khmers who can speak the language but do not know how to read and write. Once I overcame that hurdle though, it’s been smooth sailing. All I need is to put more time. That old adage “practice makes perfect” is true.
I am grateful to my Lok Kru. He works full time, also goes to school and is willing to drive long distances teach us free of charge. With that kind of dedication put into preserving our Khmer culture, how can I disappoint him? I refuse to. So thank you Lok Kru, I will continue to study hard.
A foreign language is required to obtain a BA. Khmer is not one of the languages offered at my university. I don’t know why when we offer Sanskrit, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Urdu and Bengali, among other Eastern and Asian languages. Though I do know FASA (Filipino-American Student Assoc.) fight every year to keep Tagalog. But what we CAN do is take a proficiency test and have the foreign language requirement waived, which is what I plan to do. Isn’t there a SEASI program in Madison, Wisconsin for learning Khmer as well? I am definitely considering that. Hey, maybe in a few years you’ll see me teaching English in Srok Khmer =).
Tags: Learning Khmer Teaching Studying Progress
