Daily Prompt: Lazy learners

Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t gotten around to? What is it and what’s stopping you from mastering the skill.

I’m very fond of learning a variety of languages. When I was studying for my Master’s degree, I saw a lady in the university walkway.

I was curious and enquired who she was and what was she doing in our university. One of my classmates informed me she was a French teacher.

I immediately followed her to her classroom, introduced myself and expressed my desire to learn French.

“You are two months late chaman,” she said.

I begged her to take me, I promised I’d make up the time I lost. She allowed me to register.

From the first day I joined Madame would ask me questions to make sure I was making an effort to learn. It went well, she was pleased.

Then there was no more opportunity to continue. I registered in a different university to study Bachelor of Education. The opportunity to continue with French was not there.

After my marriage I joined my husband in Montreal. I was thrilled I’d get a chance to improve my scanty knowledge of French.It didn’t happen as we moved from Montreal to Gander, Newfoundland, where my husband agreed to work as an ophthalmologist.

I was also lucky to get the job as a teacher. I did short courses in French arranged by our Board of Education, it wasn’t enough. What I needed  most was fluency in speaking.

I tried to learn Spanish too, I did some courses, found it easier than French, but after a year of correspondence courses I had to give it up. I had too many things going on in my life, teaching, house work, helping my children to be better students and last of all baking.

With this many things on the go, French and Spanish had to be dropped.

……………………… 🙂

Blogging 201, Day Seven

Day  Seven: Make the most of Events

Today’s assignment: Create a recurring blogging event on your site, and/or make plans to attend a blogging conference.

Blogging Event: In Other Words

In this weekly event draw inspiration from a well-known quote.

Recurring weekly Wednesday-

Today is Tuesday, but I will write a post today on quotes and another one tomorrow to follow the recurring  weekly   Wednesday.

The famous quote I picked today is : Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow-

A.P.J Abdul Kalam

Sacrifice is the key word in this quote. Our children need our support mentally, physically and financially. This is the reason we should sacrifice our pleasure by earning and saving for our children to enable them to have a better tomorrow.

Besides financial, mental and physical support is necessary too. Little minds at times can be confused by viewing the world by themselves. We can help by explaining things they fail to understand.

They need physical support in infancy, parents’  assistance enables them to grow up as confident human beings.

………………………. 🙂

365 Writing prompts: I want to know what love is

We each have many types of love relationships_ parents, children,spouses, friends. And they are not always with people; you may love an animal,or a place.Is there a single idea or definition that runs through all the varieties of “Love”?

It is true there are many varieties of love, such as: people, place, and animal. I’m not sure one definition will be enough for all of them.

When I think of love for parents, I feel it is not the same as love for the spouse, children or friends.

I know my parents would do anything for me to see me happy, whatever they do they do it unconditionally. They are never selfish, their whole world revolves around their children, they’d be devastated if anything bad happened to their children.

The children on the other hand will love their parents up to a certain point. When they feel that they are self-sufficient they’d either forget their parents or will have very little to do with them. This love I call “selfish love”, e.g A daughter sends an email to the mother which says ,”I only want to have a courteous relationship with you”. A parent will never dream of writing this to her child.

This  is a  comparison of love of the child and love of the parents.

Love for friends is different, if it’s your best friend you confide in him/her everything about your life, and hope it will be kept a secret.

With animals love is the reason we have them anyway, the animals on the other hand have no selfish motives like humans, their love for you is unconditional. Our love for an animal will always be the same,pure love.

Love for a place can change if you find some other place better or you can easily visit. I used to love a  place for a very long time, the distance, the difficulty of visiting it, is the reason I don’t think about it anymore.I do have a very fond memory of it.

Human beings are different , not everyone will treat their parents like the one I mentioned above,which happens to be a true example.

………………………………………………… 🙂

DP Daily Prompt: Tagline

Often, our blogs have taglines. But if humans did, too? What would your tagline be?

My tagline would be, “I was born to be a teacher”.

When I was seven going on eight, I was able to know my siblings were not learning to read Urdu they were memorizing every page in the book. I also recognized the teacher my father hired was unable to teach.

I knew how to get the attention of the students I taught, I did well.

In my mind teaching with love is an Art most successful especially when one is teaching  children. Children look forward to teachers who have patience and love, kids are intuitive by nature they can tell which teacher can get their attention.

……………………….

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/dp-daily-prompt-tagline-2

 

 

DP Daily Prompt: too Big To Fail

Tell us about something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail( and tell us why you haven’t tried it yet).

I seriously would attempt to write a book of all my experiences I encountered in my life. I haven’t written it yet, I cannot try it without the guaranty I will not fail.

Some of my well-wishers want me to write about my experience as a teacher, there are some interesting anecdotes I’d be able to share.

It might bring out a smile for some who probably experienced it as well.

The schools I have attended , the things I liked and others I did not, it’s the way life is you do not like everything that happens to you.

My interaction with children, who I thought are the sweetest and most innocent human beings on the planet. I’m willing to bet if they were at the helm of our beloved planet, they would make it the best place on earth.

When they love they are sincere, they do not know how to pretend, some are influenced by adults who unknowingly say or do things just to impress the adults they come into contact with.

When I was six  there were two sisters who were our  neighbors their religion was different from  mine . To impress their older cousin they pointed out to her in a very awkward way this is what one of them said in Bengali: “Ora na mucholman”( they are Muslims). her way of saying showed she does not like  us. How do I know because the proper word in Bengali is, Musalman, not Mucholman, this was her way to scoff at us. Neither she nor I understood at that age why she did that.

Sometimes certain events are  deep-rooted  in our mind this was one of them. We adults do great harm to children by teaching them to discriminate.

I need reassurance that I will not fail, this is the only reason I have not tried to write a book!

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/dp-daily-prompt-7/

 

365 Writing Prompts: Fifteen Minutes

You have fifteen minutes to address the whole world live (on television or radio—choose your format). What would you say?

I think I’ll use TV to address the whole world, it’s a medium where I’m sure more people will watch and listen.

To the organizers a big thank you.

Since I have fifteen minutes to let the whole world know my message : here it goes, Hello World , thank you for turning on your TV sets, I have a very important message for every man,woman and child,my message is simple.

We are at a stage when we are facing global warming, we did not pay attention when we were first informed . We now have to do our part to save the world we live in we are indebted to our children grandchildren and humanity  to turn this terrible news into something favorable. I’m not asking for too much all I need for us to do   is to cooperate,and   avoid further damage to our planet.

Recycle everything recyclable, stop cutting down the trees, instead plant trees wherever possible.

Use carpools so that there are less vehicles on the road or use public transportation  such as the bus or subway where applicable.

There a lot of things besides what I have mentioned, I’m hoping my other respected speakers will share some of their concerns.

Thank you for listening goodbye!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/365-writing-pr…ifteen-minutes/

365 Writing prompts: Sink or Swim

Tell us about a time when you were left on your own, to fend for yourself in an overwhelming  situation— on the job, at home, at school. What was the outcome?

I remember once my mom went to see her sister-in-law out of town. My younger siblings and I were left to fend for ourselves, it would be fine if it was just us.

One fine morning my aunt and uncle arrived with their kids, mom was not at home, we had a servant who took care of getting groceries and cleaning the house.

I was barely fifteen, had no experience in cooking , I could do the simple stuff, but wasn’t good enough for company. My aunt was one of those people who was not fond of any kind of housework like cooking or cleaning, it was always done by her four daughters, they were younger than me.

My mom had no idea she had her house full of guests, she was having a grand time with her sister-in-law in the village.

I did the cooking, I’m not sure how good or bad it was , my aunt and her brood were satisfied as long as they didn’t have to cook.

My mom came back after a week, my aunt told my mother, ‘Ranu is a good cook!’

My mother and I knew it wasn’t true, but she  was happy I was able to look after my aunt, uncle and their children.

I was nervous in the beginning but as days went by I became somewhat confident that no one will be sick eating what I served!

k: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/12/03/365-writing-pr…s-sink-or-swim

 

 

DP Daily Prompt: Pace Oddity

If you could slow down an action that usually zooms by, or speed up an event that normally drags on , which would you choose, and why?

I don’t mind going to parties hosted by friends every now and then, what is irritating about the ones I’m invited to seems to drag on.

Most people in my group of friends have no respect for time, if they are invited for a 6 pm dinner they show up at eight or even later, the hosts wait for every last person to serve the meal, then there is the practice of serving the men and children first and the women after the said people are taken care of.

I went to one once the time given was 6 pm but the guests started arriving after eight, by the time everyone was in, it was after 9;30 pm. I felt the time was dragging on, the hostess kept the food in the oven to keep it warm.

When finally the dinner was served at close to 10 pm in groups, the last group i.e the women were served at almost eleven o clock.

I always respect the time given, I had to wait for close to five hours to be served, by then the food was not fresh, the salad was not fit to eat as it happened to be what was left over after the previous group finished their meal.

I like the food to be served at the time given and everyone i.e men women and children should be served at the same time!

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/dp-daily-prompt-pace-oddity/

365 Writing Prompts: The golden hour

6;AM the best hour of the day, or too close to your 3: AM bedtime?

6: AM is the best hour of the day for me, I woke up a few minutes after this morning to say my morning prayer, it is called “Fajr” in Arabic, since the sun rises after 7:30 AM in my neck of the woods, waking up at 6:AM is a perfect time for me. I get enough time to wash and get ready for prayer.

It takes twenty five minutes to complete my prayer which is still before sunrise, then I have plenty of time to eat breakfast, take a shower, get dressed and do my outside chores.

Today is a very gloomy Monday, rain has been falling since Friday today is not different, it’s also foggy, October is not looking so promising, there are a few days left for November to show its face, well I’m a bit concerned because November means snow anytime, shoveling or getting someone to do it for us is another headache I’m not looking forward to.

I sometimes wonder is it possible to fall asleep in the beginning of November and wake up in December? It’s probably the dumbest thought, but wouldn’t it be lovely?

Wait a minute we haven’t had “Halloween” yet how can I think of November and December? Sorry folks, “Happy Halloween, to you all, especially to all the children of the world, wishing you’d  get bags and bags full of candy!”

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/10/27/365-writing-pr…he-golden-hour/

365 Writing Prompts: Standstill

For a moment today,time stands still –but you can tweak one thing while it’s stopped. What do you do?

I’d like to pull it back to when I was in Malta for teaching practice, Every day I left the apartment early to catch the bus which took me to the school where I taught the little kids, I’m not quite sure how old they were but they were lovely.

They always answered together whenever I asked a question,what was unique about it was their manner of speaking was different from what I heard in other schools, it sounded musical, I of course assumed this was clearly a Maltese way.

We were in Valetta,the capital of Malta, the people were friendly, they knew we were there to teach.

https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/365-writing-prompts-standstill/