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Pronombres Personales

MSC archived stories - December 14, 2019

When we write to our children from non-English speaking countries in English, my experience is that overtime as they get to know and love you they really want to make an attempt to learn the language of his/her sponsor.

As many of you know, Estephanie and her family had to move out of the Red-zone area of Guatemala City in June of this year for safety leaving behind the own house unoccupied. At early days of sponsoring her, I was able to witness their living condition by photographic images CI sent me.

 

In one of those photos (added to My Media) was a poster mounted on the wall inside titled Pronombres Personales (in Spanish for Personal Pronouns) – Spanish, English and pronunciation of the word – hope you can see it.

 

A family very much aware of the importance of learning English to be able to communicate with the sponsor and wanted to educate the two children (Estephanie and Ashley) living in ever closer world. The mom was an active volunteer at Mariscal Center during the latter part of the sponsorship, and Estephanie never forgot to end her letters saying "Remember I love you" -- Recuerda que yo te amo!

 

The whole family holds me in high regard.

Comments

  1. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:28

    I think all sponsors must have admired the beautiful, strong and loving relationship you and Estephanie shared! I'm glad to learn the family moved out of the red zone to live safer lives, although the need to move quickly must have created an entire set of new problems to be solved..

    December 14, 2019

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  2. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:28

    I have a similar experience with language and the children desiring to learn their sponsors language. I ended up buying a picture dictionary and language book for each family. The dictionary has a free phone app so one can hear the pronunciation of the words. In addition to the children the moms wanted to learn English so they can talk to my wife directly on visits. Overall they are great resources for the families and there are more job opportunities knowing a second language. Some benefited from having these books to help in their English studies in school. On a personal note if they were interested in a different language other than English it didn't matter except I might have to study another language too...

    December 14, 2019

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  3. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:29

    Thank you, Nancy! 6 months after.. I'm still thinking of 'dhuwa' with fond memories. Prior to the designation of no-go area, the field staff even felt the danger to life paused there. The family did try to keep Estephanie in the program by moving to stay with her maternal grandmother for a short while and then renting out a place before decided to relocate outside the sponsorship area to live with a family member. This meant having to find a new school for the children to go to. Both me and Ashely's (far right on picture) sponsor lost this precious family to sponsorship.

    December 14, 2019

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  4. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:29

    Frosty, Thanks for sharing your experience. A Dictionary or Thesaurus is a great way to start learning a language as I did myself growing up in SL. I once gave "Larousse Diccionario" (ISBN: 9786072102897) to Katerin (now graduated) in Guatemala, and later found that Saira in Honduras also bought it part of her education EG!

    December 14, 2019

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  5. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:29

    Here are the picture dictionaries I provided. The CI staff thought they were really good. ISBN-13: 978-1465459312 ISBN-10: 1465459316 The work books were ISBN-13: 978-1438010380 ISBN-10: 9781438010380. The same publisher makes the books for other languages. I did a lot of research and comparing so just a place to start.

    December 16, 2019

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  6. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:29

    Beautiful family and glad that you got to visit them before they left the red-zone area. Was this because of some natural disaster and/or did the family just move out? I wish I could see what Jenifer's house looks like and that CI would take photos and send them in one of the semi-annual report(s), but only if the family is willing to share that information.I do remember seeing photos of what houses look like in other countries in one of the Journeys Magazine, but I wish that they would show what the inside of it looks.

    December 16, 2019

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  7. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:30

    A wonderful series, Frosty. I love the audio-pictorial illustrations and will certainly ask my contact at Scholastic Intl to see if they can find something similar Children Dictionary for my next book distribution. Thanks for all the research you done! You're a magical star :)

    December 16, 2019

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  8. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:30

    Btw, Katerin also received "Larousse Básico Diccionario: Bilingual" (ISBN: 9789706073587)

    December 16, 2019

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  9. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:30

    Hi Jennifer, It was declared no-go because the area is deeply affected by gang/drug-related violence. I sent them to an Amusement Park to celebrate Estephanie's 9th birthday. The photos of the house were taken to see if any improvements can be made, but for some stroke of fate, I changed my mind to invest the money in her music lessons instead. She finished the 2yr course and left the program at age 11.

    December 16, 2019

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  10. chelaka23 March 2025 at 15:30

    That's pretty great, chelaka. So nice to see that relationship grow and continuity throughout your sponsorship via the photos. :)

    December 17, 2019

    ReplyDelete

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