mic check one two
On the 26th, I was in Tegucigalpa with a few other PCVs to record an English vocabulary CD for English manuals that were created by former PCVs.
In a short description, Honduran teachers of 4th-6th grade are required to start teaching English, though most of them are not qualified to teach English. Because of this, some former PCVs created manuals to teach teachers about English and how to teach it in their classrooms. One PCV, Blair, came up with the idea that we should make a supplemental CD to go along with the manual so that the teachers could practice English outside of the classroom. We are supposed to teach teachers in our sites using these manuals, but I used them to teach my 5th and 6th grade classes, though this year I am planning to teach the teachers at the grade school.
We recorded at the national radio station, which was semi-ghetto fabulous. It was along a dirt road in a small building with a sign hanging out in front; no different than a Coca-Cola sign that would hang out of a small market.
Recording a vocabulary CD is tough stuff. For me, the tough part was that I really had to concentrate while I read my script. Example:
-azul…blue…blue
I had to try my best to space the words evenly. Since they’re words that I know, I subconsciously read the words faster because it was common knowledge to me, but I know that it’s not to the teachers that will be using the CD.
Halfway through the recording, the coordinator starts fussing with the computer and says, “I think I lost all the files”. Come again? We had already been working for almost 2 hours at that point and the thought of starting over made me sick. After some more fussing and the magic of auto recovery, he found the files and we were re-energized to finish up and get some lunch.
It was a really cool experience to learn about the making of a CD and to see the national radio station too.
In a short description, Honduran teachers of 4th-6th grade are required to start teaching English, though most of them are not qualified to teach English. Because of this, some former PCVs created manuals to teach teachers about English and how to teach it in their classrooms. One PCV, Blair, came up with the idea that we should make a supplemental CD to go along with the manual so that the teachers could practice English outside of the classroom. We are supposed to teach teachers in our sites using these manuals, but I used them to teach my 5th and 6th grade classes, though this year I am planning to teach the teachers at the grade school.
We recorded at the national radio station, which was semi-ghetto fabulous. It was along a dirt road in a small building with a sign hanging out in front; no different than a Coca-Cola sign that would hang out of a small market.
Recording a vocabulary CD is tough stuff. For me, the tough part was that I really had to concentrate while I read my script. Example:
-azul…blue…blue
I had to try my best to space the words evenly. Since they’re words that I know, I subconsciously read the words faster because it was common knowledge to me, but I know that it’s not to the teachers that will be using the CD.
Halfway through the recording, the coordinator starts fussing with the computer and says, “I think I lost all the files”. Come again? We had already been working for almost 2 hours at that point and the thought of starting over made me sick. After some more fussing and the magic of auto recovery, he found the files and we were re-energized to finish up and get some lunch.
It was a really cool experience to learn about the making of a CD and to see the national radio station too.
posted by Kathryn @ 8:59 AM
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