Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Day 13 in Ghana
Today and yesterday morning at the Zo Simli School, I created a lesson plan of my own, which I was very proud of. The English Master instructed me to discuss with them, some of the elements of speech writing. Yesterday I taught them about informative speeches and today we covered persuasive speeches. Speech writing in itself takes a completely different perspective in Ghana than in the United States. In Ghana, there seems to not be much emphasis on conveying a message in a speech, but more so in the art of how it is delivered, and who is delivering it. However, the English Master and myself have been collaborating very well in giving the students both cultures of speech writing.
I had them repeat a phrase that happened to come to me while I was lecturing. "The best speech is an effective speech." Most American students at the college level are familiar with the differences between informative and persuasive speeches. They are also familiar with some of the structuring tools. Therefore we discussed the concepts of an introduction, main points, conclusion, and even a thesis statement- which they grasp more as the "theme" of the speech. They took notes on my lecture and then the English Master taught them from somewhat of a different angle. The biggest difference is the idea of the thesis statement. What is it that you want your audience to take away from this speech? In Ghana, this is not necessarily an important factor.
This has also been my first time experiencing tropical rain which comes down much harder than the rain I am used to in the states. I picture a giant bucket or water hose spraying the area. It rains so hard and loud, it can wake one up in the middle of the night, or make it hard to even carry on a conversation!
The Dagbani language is quite fascinating and I have been able to learn many of the standard greetings here. Generally almost everyone speaks English, however, you find that a vast majority when conversing with one another speak Dagbani. There is an English-Dagbani dictionary here at the palace that I want to read just for some more phrases. The culture here is remarkable in that its uniqueness is truly is moving.
I had them repeat a phrase that happened to come to me while I was lecturing. "The best speech is an effective speech." Most American students at the college level are familiar with the differences between informative and persuasive speeches. They are also familiar with some of the structuring tools. Therefore we discussed the concepts of an introduction, main points, conclusion, and even a thesis statement- which they grasp more as the "theme" of the speech. They took notes on my lecture and then the English Master taught them from somewhat of a different angle. The biggest difference is the idea of the thesis statement. What is it that you want your audience to take away from this speech? In Ghana, this is not necessarily an important factor.
This has also been my first time experiencing tropical rain which comes down much harder than the rain I am used to in the states. I picture a giant bucket or water hose spraying the area. It rains so hard and loud, it can wake one up in the middle of the night, or make it hard to even carry on a conversation!
The Dagbani language is quite fascinating and I have been able to learn many of the standard greetings here. Generally almost everyone speaks English, however, you find that a vast majority when conversing with one another speak Dagbani. There is an English-Dagbani dictionary here at the palace that I want to read just for some more phrases. The culture here is remarkable in that its uniqueness is truly is moving.
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