This past week started the sequence of eight written and verbal presentations for our Phonetics class. Each week, we need to prepare a three page paper geared for a different audience or theme. These assignments will test all that we have "supposedly" learned and help us practice speaking in front of people in Spanish.
The first presentation is to give our extended salvation testimony and/or call to ministry. We are encouraged not to write out our first draft in English, since many things can be "lost in translation". These assignments have forced us to think in Spanish (grammar, syntax, & idiomatic expressions).
After we have verbally presented our testimony, our professor, Dr. Johnson, goes through our whole presentation and helps us understand each terminological inexactitude and point out any grammar or syntax errors. While it is often embarrassing to hear ALL of one's errors publicly pointed out in front of the whole class, it is profitable to have this atmosphere of a community of learning a second language. Learning in a group takes some of the pain out of the process. SOME, not ALL. Dr. Johnson has been teaching Spanish at RGBI for over 50 years...so we give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to grammar and pronunciation :) We are thankful for his patience with us and for his investment in the language students here at RGBI.
In the following weeks I will be presenting the following:
-A Personal Experience
-A Biblical Story
-An Object Lesson (with Application)
-A Devotional
-Counsel on a certain problem (ie. anger)
-A Teen devotional
-An Evangelistic challenge
Continue to pray for me (David) as I desire to do my best on these assignments in preparing to communicate the Gospel and Biblical Truth in a more effective way on the mission field.
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