Pictures!

...will not be uploaded today, as Blogger isn't letting me put them up. However, know that there will be some coming in the next post. So for this post... I guess I'll talk about the classes and how that stuff works? About as exciting, I know. For starters, I'll go over the different class types we have in the AIIS program, each of which is designed to help us build different skills and improve in different ways.

Magazine/Newspaper readings: The week before, we are given a small article from a local newspaper or magazine and a list of vocab which we might not (in my case, will not) know. For the advanced level, we read the articles at home and have to discuss their significance in class. This... may or may not be possible given the article we have this week, which talks about this kid who opened up an ice cream and juice stand (called Echo-Choco, if you're ever in Mumbai and craving either ice cream or juice). Anyway, it's pretty good to help out on my reading speed, which is one of my weaker areas.

Journal Correction: Ever week, we're expected to write 5 pages on anything in our journals and then present them to the class. I find this one of the most difficult parts of class because 1) I'm not creative enough to come up with good topics to write about, 2) my writing is ridiculously bad and simple, and 3) my teacher thinks I'm crazy. Granted, number 3 might be slightly justified. My first journal assignment was a story about a toymaker and his family. The toymaker dreams of making this perfectly lifelike doll, so realistic that you can't tell it isn't human. He spends hours upon hours working on it and finally creates the perfect toy, but before he can sell it, he drops it and its arm breaks off. So he gives it to his kids to play with, figuring it's of no use. But then the doll comes to life and, upset that the toymaker didn't try to fix him, starts terrorizing his family. So... yeah, I guess I can maybe understand why the teacher thought this was odd. In my defense, it was the only idea I had!

Hindi Literature: Similar to the newspaper class, this is designed to help us with our reading comprehension while exposing us to different sides of Hindi literary tradition. We stick to children's stories (because we can't handle anything above like... a 3rd grade level) and discuss them in class. I haven't had one of these yet, so I can't really speak to what they are like. But it should help my reading speed a good deal.

Radio/TV: One of my favorite classes because it involves almost no talking (something I'm pretty darn good at, if I do say so myself). Also, my listening comprehension is probably my most developed skill, so I can pretend like I know what I'm doing/like I belong in advanced in this. Also, we get to watch Hindi serials (which are incredibly dramatic and funny) or listen to Hindi radio (which is also really odd - they try to sound American a lot of the time, but then both their Hindi and English become unintelligible). But it's still good.

Vocabulary: A pretty standard class, in which we go over some important vocab for the week and practice using it. No big deal.

Grammar: Pretty much the same idea, just reviewing grammar concepts (or more accurately, other people review and I learn) and doing some drills to practice.

Personal tutorial: One-on-one time with one of the teachers to go over anything you have questions about. This really really intimidates me; I'm pretty much terrified of authority figures as a whole and as much as they try to sell the "We are your family!" thing, I'm still afraid to talk to them for an hour.

Word games: While I don't find this particularly useful all the time, it is pretty darn fun. A lot depends on what game we have for the week. Games like Pictionary don't really help me all that much, but stuff like Taboo is a pretty good way to get us to speak. It's always a good time, though; there is something about watching your classmate flop around of the floor trying to get you to guess "whale," only to realize you don't actually know how to say whale in Hindi.

Pronunciation: Just a lesson to go over the differences between aspirated vs. unaspirated sounds, retroflex vs. dental, etc. I'm not anticipating it to be too difficult, but we'll see when I have the first class.

Movie: Without a doubt my favorite 3 hours of the week. We watch Bollywood movies without subtitles to work on listening comprehension. Now, this is great for a number of reasons: 1) NO TALKING! This is the one class of the week where I can do absolutely no talking and still have it be acceptable. 2) It's listening comprehension, which is something I can do! So it makes me feel pretty darn good about myself. 3) ...it's watching a Bollywood movie in class.

Film discussion: This is a tricky class because the teachers know I like Bollywood movies. Thus, they expect me to have a lot to say about them and discuss their main themes and such. But... I don't really like to talk in class, so I think I might let them down. Oh well.

And I think that's about it... if I missed any, I'll add them on later.