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.
...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.
This isn't finished yet- I'll add photos and the vocabulary/grammar sections soon. It ended up being pretty long, so maybe I'll split it up into two blogs.
ReplyDeleteYou are so daring! It must have been hard to down that tuna and jelly sandwich.
ReplyDeleteI moved the tuna and jelly sandwich part to the next blog, since the original blog was too long.
ReplyDelete