Sunday 26 October 2014
Images from the last women's visit
This visit was in May 2014 - women from Palestine visiting women in London. See the blog pwv2014.blogspot.co.uk
Tuesday 21 October 2014
Autumn Introductions at Dar Assadaqa
I met with three women and a local volunteer yesterday morning for an introductory session and we look forward to the weeks to come.
It has been four months now since the group last met for conversational English and so played some simple games to get our brains thinking in English. We started with the shopping list game – 'I went to the shop and bought...'
This threw up some new vocabulary for the ladies which was useful.
We then played a drawing game which required a shift in mindset into creative mode! The women seemed to really enjoy it. The game is like consequences but includes drawing and well as writing. I used this to show how stories evolve when individuals' interpretations are added and that this is what makes our own stories personal to us. This game also demonstrated that a lot can be communicated with simple, single words when combined with visuals, body language and gestures. From this, I encouraged the women to try to express themselves in English when we are together, working with the words that they do know. They have agreed to refrain from relying on an Arabic tranlsator and they discovered that a lot can be said with very few words!
We discussed that communicating with each other during our sessions is more than just learning to speak English, but it is about sharing experiences and connecting with each other. When asking each other questions about out lives, we passed a ball of wool between us, each holding on to a point on the thread, and by the end we were all connected by a web of wool. This demonstrated how we were becoming connected through communication. It was a good chance to practice speaking English and to get to know a bit about each other.
The session was a great success and we hope to meet weekly. We aim to improve conversational English, develop relationships and learn more about topics of interest. The women have chosen to talk about food next week.
It has been four months now since the group last met for conversational English and so played some simple games to get our brains thinking in English. We started with the shopping list game – 'I went to the shop and bought...'
This threw up some new vocabulary for the ladies which was useful.
We then played a drawing game which required a shift in mindset into creative mode! The women seemed to really enjoy it. The game is like consequences but includes drawing and well as writing. I used this to show how stories evolve when individuals' interpretations are added and that this is what makes our own stories personal to us. This game also demonstrated that a lot can be communicated with simple, single words when combined with visuals, body language and gestures. From this, I encouraged the women to try to express themselves in English when we are together, working with the words that they do know. They have agreed to refrain from relying on an Arabic tranlsator and they discovered that a lot can be said with very few words!
We discussed that communicating with each other during our sessions is more than just learning to speak English, but it is about sharing experiences and connecting with each other. When asking each other questions about out lives, we passed a ball of wool between us, each holding on to a point on the thread, and by the end we were all connected by a web of wool. This demonstrated how we were becoming connected through communication. It was a good chance to practice speaking English and to get to know a bit about each other.
The session was a great success and we hope to meet weekly. We aim to improve conversational English, develop relationships and learn more about topics of interest. The women have chosen to talk about food next week.
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