Challenges in Language

Last week I was doing my weekly health lesson at the Kindergarten. The theme was, “I love myself” and I asked each child to draw a picture of them doing something they are really good at. It was an extremely simple concept and one that I thought would be good for this group of kids. I didn’t expect a lot from their pictures because they have really just started to color (I am the only person to have ever given them crayons to use). Before I came they were given colored pencils about once a month to use in the classroom and I have never seen small children using any art tools in the home.
I began the lesson by giving them a few examples then handed out the paper and crayons. My first classroom (4 – 5’s) didn’t really seem to understand the assignment and most of their pictures turned out to be of fruit. We spent the first four or five weeks learning about food so they usually resort to food drawings if they don’t understand. I didn’t worry too much because one of my goals is to get the children to be proud of their work. I walked around the room giving out lots of praise and encouragement.
My second classroom (3 – 4’s) was even worse. I didn’t get a single thing that looked like it could be something that they do well. Again, I got more fruits and vegetables, a lot of circles and then some that are best described as scribbles. But then again, some of these children are only 3 years old.
My final classroom (5 – 6’s) I was a little discouraged about the topic but had a bunch of really great pictures that I love to put up on my wall to decorate and to send home to those of you who send me letters. I am explaining the topic and assignment to the students and then pass out the paper and crayons and they look at me like they don’t understand. So, I ask, “Do you understand?”. They all say yes and then look to their teacher. [This is part of the non-direct nature of Turkmen culture]. The teacher goes to the board and draws a bunch of grapes. [Again because the students have just begun to draw a lot of the time they want to have an example on the board that they copy, I try to get away from this because I want them to be creative and not simply copy what already exists].
I stared at those grapes for a good minute before I understood what was happening. In Turkmen “I love myself” is “Men özüm söýyän”, while “I love grapes” is “Men üzüm söýyän”. It took me another minute to recover from the shock of why no one in the previous two classrooms seemed to understand me. I guess the idea of loving yourself is not prevalent and therefore they assumed that I meant grapes. This is why I got so many pictures of fruit and vegetables. Once I explained the difference this oldest group produced some beautiful pictures of people. The people were still not doing anything, but I had made progress. And I still make mistakes with my language…