Tuna and Jelly Sandwiches, etc.

I had a very hard time eating rice back then, since my stomach wasn't used to it, so it was tough for me to adjust to eating rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! The children always had some kind of spicy soup with the rice, but since the orphanage was very poor, it didn't have much nutrition in it. Usually, the orphanage rotated between spicy cabbage soup, spicy cucumber soup, and spicy rice noodle soup. At times they simply made boiled rice soup. Once in a while they proudly served canned sardines in spicy tomato soup (they ate the soft bones, the heads, and everything)- which I originally thought was disgusting- but after a few months of getting very little protein, I came to regard it as a special treat!

I often returned to the orphanage for lunch in the afternoon, since I was a volunteer and didn't have much money to spend on food. Usually, lunch was just rice with leftover spicy soup from breakfast. Sometimes Lawan or the staff took pity on my poor American stomach, however, and tried to treat me to something "western." I remember one of these food disasters very well- here is a paragraph from an email to my family.

"In the morning I was trying to explain to Maema in my limited Thai how, in America, we make sandwiches. They had bought me some tuna, jam, and bread, because they had seen Americans eat these things in sandwiches before. So, a little later, Maema brought me a sandwich she had made- with tuna AND jelly! I sat with Maema and Lawan and smiled as I began to eat my tuna and jelly sandwich, thinking that these two things DEFINITELY do NOT go together! Then Lawan wanted me to try a little of what she was eating- something like a roll with some sticky tan stuff inside (which I later learned was probably durian). I ate a little- and then resumed eating my tuna and jelly sandwich GRATEFULLY, because it tasted GOOD in comparison!"

Actually, tuna and jelly sandwiches would turn out to be the least of my food adventures- I would sample many more previously unimaginable foods during my 5 years there! But trying to smile through that special sandwich, and the proud look on Maema's face for making it, was something I will never forget!

Vocabulary- adverbs of manner

simply- plainly, in a simple manner, merely
proudly- with pride, in a proud manner, feeling self-respect
originally- in the first place
well- in a good or satisfactory manner
definitely- decidedly, without question or doubt
gratefully- appreciatively, in a thankful manner, with thanks

Vocabulary practice- fill in the blanks

Benny sat and stared at his homework. He felt so frustrated! His teacher had said that he must do his homework ___________, but he just didn't know how to do it. His mother came into his room. "Benny, what's wrong?" she asked. You ____________ look sad. "Mom, I have to do a good job on my homework, but I _____________ don't understand!" His mother at the work. It was a math page. "Well, I will show you how to do it," she said. Benny's mom showed him how to do the first problem, and she explained every step. Benny started to smile. "Now I understand!" he exclaimed. "I _____________ thought I couldn't do it, but now I see that it's easy!" Benny finished his homework. Then, he looked at it _____________. "Thanks, mom," he said _______________.

Grammar- adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner tell you how something is done. They often end in -ly, but not always. You can find an adverb of manner by asking, "How did the subject do it?"

example- He hit me hard. "How did he hit me?" -hard So, hard is an adverb that describes the verb "hit."

Where to put them in the sentence-

There are a few places that you can put an adverb of manner in a sentence. Often it is placed at the end of the clause.

examples-
You spoke convincingly.
You described everything convincingly.
You described everything to me convincingly.

However, you can also place an adverb in other positions, based on what we want to emphasize. It can be placed before the subject, before the verb, or between the object and an adverbial phrase.

examples-
Carefully, she put it on the shelf.
She carefully put it on the shelf.
She put it carefully on the shelf.

In addition, if you are using a sentence with a past participle, when you put the adverb before the verb it must be placed immediately before the past participle. However, you can still put the adverb at the end of the clause if you prefer.

It had been carefully placed on the shelf.
It had been placed on the shelf carefully.

Grammar Practice-

Find each adverb of manner in my both my blog and the vocabulary practice, and identify its position in the sentence. Choose from these options:

Before the clause
Before the verb
Between the object of the verb and an adverbial phrase
At the end of the clause

Busy Days

This story is continued from my previous blogs about my adventures when I went to live in Thailand.

...Shortly after my arrival in Mae Kachan, my tiny village in northern Thailand, I got into a routine. I would wake up at 5 AM every morning with the children, since the wake-up bell clanged pretty loudly. First, I would lay sleepily in my bed, wishing I could sleep more, until I heard the children singing or doing their exercises in the meeting room at 5:15. Next, I dragged myself out of bed, got ready for the day, and had my prayer time. The breakfast bell rang at 6:15, so at that time I would head downstairs to eat with the children. They always laughed at my reaction to the food! It was very spicy for me, and my stomach wasn't used to digesting spicy food at all. Normally at breakfast time I just ate the plain white rice. I usually sprinkled on a few drops of whatever kind of spicy soup they were having for flavor.

After breakfast, the children would run around getting all their school supplies ready. The bell rang again each morning at 7 AM. At that time all the children ran to the courtyard (the meeting room if it was raining) to line up. I taught them a short English song each morning, and reviewed some vocabulary words with them. I often did a fun activity, such as "I spy" (if we were reviewing colors) or "Simon Says" (if we were reviewing actions). Then Pastor Lawan would talk to them about problems in the orphanage, discipline them, or just encourage them to be good children and good students. By 7:30 the school bus arrived, and all the children would say a quick prayer for the day and file onto the bus. I would wave good-bye to them as the bus pulled away.

After the children left for school, I would spend two hours studying Thai from my books and audio-tapes. Following my study time, I would either go out visiting in the village with Lawan, or walk around the village by myself, meeting people and practicing the Thai language. I often visited the kindergarten to teach the children there simple words and play games with them. I hadn't started teaching at the school yet, because in another week their October break would begin. (Thai school are closed in April and October because the farming season there is different from in the West.)

When the children came home from school around 4 pm, they would line up again in their groups. Pastor Lawan would check to make sure that everyone was there and review their afternoon chores. After that, the children did chores (and played when their chores were finished), ate dinner, and then began their homework. I would help the children with their English homework (and sometimes their math homework, too). We all stopped when the bell rang for the evening worship meeting or bible study groups. Finally, they would shower, iron their school clothes for the next day, and go to bed. Once they were asleep each night, I reviewed the Thai that I had learned that day, had some prayer and bible study time, and got ready for bed.

Vocabulary- adverbs of frequency

always- 100% of the time
usually- about 80-90% of the time
normally- about 80-90% of the time (similar to usually)
often- about 60-70% of the time
sometimes- about 40-50% of the time

Vocabulary practice- fill in the blanks with vocabulary words.

Bill is the best student in the class. He _____________ gets A's on his tests.
Sarah is a very good student. She _____________ gets A's, but occasionally she gets a B.
Joe is also a very good student. He _________________ gets A's, but sometimes he gets B's.
Amy is a good student. She ______________ gets A's on her tests, but she gets some B's and a few C's as well.
Tom tries hard. He's very good at some subjects, but not as good at other subjects. He _____________ get's A's, frequently gets B's and sometimes gets C's.

Grammar- using adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency are often placed before the main verb. If there is an auxiliary verb (helping verb) the adverb is usually place in between the auxiliary verb and the main verb. If there are two auxiliary verbs, however, the adverb will be placed between the two auxiliary verbs.

Adverbs of frequency include all the words in the vocabulary list, plus never (0%), rarely, seldom (10-20%), occasionally (30%)

examples:
She never eats meat.
They would often eat dinner at six 0'clock.
They would often have eaten dinner before we arrived.

We can place the adverbs usually, often, sometimes, and occasionally at the beginning of a clause or sentence for emphasis.

example- Sometimes she can be really mean.

We can also place often and sometimes at the end of the clause.

example- I don't go out often.

Grammar Practice-
fill in the blanks in the following sentences, using information from your own life.

1. I ______________ exercise.
2. I ______________ eat junk food.
3. I ______________ wake up late.
4. I ______________ shower in the morning.
5. I ______________ eat breakfast.

Farang, farang!

This story is continued from my previous blogs about my time living in Thailand.

...After I "settled in" to my room by putting all of my pants in the box, hanging my shirts and dresses up on the wire, and putting my other things on the table, Pastor Lawan took me out to visit people in the village. First, I met the mayor of the village, who could speak some English. He asked me to teach English one evening a week in his house for himself, his wife, and some other government workers in the village. Next, I met some of the church members, who could not speak English at all. I sat and listened to Pastor Lawan speak with them in Thai, but I couldn't understand any of it even though I had been trying to memorize Thai vocabulary and sentences for the past few months! Finally, I met the principal of the local high school, who asked me to teach conversational English several days a week in the high school.

I soon realized that I had a new name. Pastor Lawan introduced me to everyone as Jo-ann, instead of Joan. I realized that she had been reading my name wrong for the past year that we had been emailing each other. I was really happy with the change, though, because I had learned that the word "Joan" (with a long o sound) means "thief" in Thai, and I didn't want everyone to call me a thief! So I became Jo-ann. When the children in the orphanage came home after school, I was introduced to them as "Pee Jo-ann." I discovered that this means "older sister Jo-ann." They were so excited to have an American older sister! Pastor Lawan told them that I would teach them English songs and words every morning before school, and I would help them with their homework in the evening. The children loved to play games, and I enjoyed playing tag and "Simon Says" with them until dinnertime. Their laughter made me so happy! I felt like the orphanage had suddenly transformed into the nicest place in the world to live!

During that first week, I visited many places in the village, including the kindergarten where one of my new friends (named Ranee) was a teacher. The village children weren't used to having foreigners around, and they were so adorable! Here's a paragraph from an email that I sent to my parents after the first week:

"...it is really funny because all the little children here are afraid of me and very curious about me, a "farang" (foreigner). When I go to the kindergarten to visit Ranee who teaches there, all the children yell, "farang, farang!" and run away screaming and laughing. Then I go to talk to Ranee in the room and they all peek in the windows, watching me. If I look at them they laugh and yell and run away, and then they come back to peek again. Over and over- it is so cute! Then, when I leave, they all run to the gate and watch me, waving and yelling, "bye bye!" because it is what the teachers tell them "farang" do. I love the children here so much! They are so precious!"

Vocabulary: (Transition Words)

First- before everything else; the ordinal number for one (1)

Next- immediately following something

Then- next in order of time

After- later in time than...

Finally- in the end; lastly

Cloze exercise- fill in the blanks with the vocabulary words.

It was 5:00 pm and my friend was coming over for dinner. However, I didn't have any dinner ready yet! What was I going to make? Suddenly, I had an idea. ____________, I boiled some water. ____________, I opened a box of spaghetti. When the water was boiling, I put some spaghetti in the pot. _____________, I opened a can of tomato sauce. I heated it up in a saucepan. _____________ that, I put some Italian seasoning mix, parmesan cheese, onion powder, and garlic powder in the saucepan. _______________, I served the spaghetti and spooned some sauce on top. Dinner was ready just in time!

Grammar: Using discourse markers

Discourse markers signal logical relationships and sequence. There are many kinds of discourse markers. The kinds of discourse markers that I used in my vocabulary list are used for numbering and ordering points. Other discourse markers are used for adding information, linking similar things, expressing contrast, and expressing cause and result.

Discourse markers for numbering and ordering points:

first, firstly, second, (third, fourth, etc.), secondly, (thirdly, fourthly, etc.), then, next, after that, finally, last, lastly

Using commas with discourse markers:

If the discourse marker is set apart from the rest of the sentence, or there is a pause after we read it, then we put a comma after the discourse marker.

example- "First, I met the mayor of the village." I put a comma after the word 'first' because I wanted the reader to pause, in order to set the rest of the sentence apart.

If the discourse marker is meant to be integreated into the sentence so that it is read without a pause, then no comma is necessary.

example- "Then I go talk to Ranee..." I did not use a comma after the word 'then' because I did not want the reader to pause there. I wanted the whole sentence to be read together.

Grammar practice-

Identify all the discourse markers in the following paragraph:

Every morning when my alarm sounds, I follow the same routine. First, I press the snooze button on my alarm for five minutes. I curl up and finish my dream. Next, when my alarm sounds again I press the snooze button for another five minutes. This time I turn over onto my other side. After that, when my alarm rings for the third time, I hit the off button and I roll over onto my back. I stretch a little and slowly get up. Then I go brush my teeth. Once that is done, I usually feel awake enough to choose my clothes for the day. Finally, I'm ready for my shower! Whenever I follow this routine, I start my day off on the right foot.

*note- starting off "on the right foot" is an idiomatic phrase. It means to start the day off well.