Category: Culture

School calendars

kidz
Jan 19 |23:49

The school calendars in Latin America are sometimes different from the US school calendar.  In most places in Mexico the school calendar is similar to the United States with the school year beginning in August – September and ending in May-June.

In El Salvador the school year is just beginning now in January.  In El Salvador there is usually a week ‘s vacation in the spring during Holy Week, the week before Easter.  There is a week’s vacation the first week of August for las fiestas agostinas.  The national holiday celebrating Salvador del Mundo is August 6th and the country celebrates somewhat like we celebrate the 4th of July in the United States with parades and fireworks.  School then continues in El Salvador until Oct-Nov.

When we lived in El Salvador in 2001 the school year did not end until the end of November because of the earthquakes in El Salvador that year.  In the United States in snow country we sometimes extend the school year for snow days, in earthquake countries they suspend school for a time after an earthquake and then extend the school year.  It takes weeks sometimes for the earth to settle after an earthquake so schools are suspended until the earth settles down a bit.  There is too much danger of school building collapsing.

In Colombia there is a A term and a B term for the school calendar.  In Bolgota many schools follow a similar calendar to the United States but in the city of Cali for example, the school calendar is similar to that of El Salvador.

In Chile school usually begins at the end of summer in March with a two week winter vacation in July.  (Remember that in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are opposite the northern hemisphere.)  Students then continue with the school session until the middle of December.

BiLingo Kidz refers to the school calendar and vacation days in the El Salvador, Colombia and Chile stories.

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Las Posadas

kidz
Dec 16 |14:29

The 16th of December is the first day of Las Posadas as celebrated in many communities in Mexico and Central America.  Posada is literally translated as dwelling, home, inn. Therefore las posadas is a Judeo-Christian  reenactment of Mary and Joseph looking for a “place at the Inn” before Jesus is to be born.

Usually each of the nine evenings in which a community reenacts la posada, it is hosted at a different home.  For example, the host family,  and possibly a few other friends, will be in their home.  Other community members then will come as a group to the home. Often times a young woman is dressed as Mary and a young man as Joseph.  Once we even used a live donkey to carry Mary.  As the outsiders knock on the door they begin to sing a song about needing shelter.  The hosts open the door and sing back that there is no room at the inn.  Several stanzas later, the hosts recognize the situation and ask the strangers to enter.

Once all are together in the house, there might be a bible study with the readings leading up to Christmas. At the end, treats are served, and often in Mexico a piñata is broken by the children.

Christmas Eve is the last day of las posadas as Jesus is born.  In Latin America areas where I have celebrated Christmas, Christmas Eve is referred to as “el 24″ and New Year’s Eve is referred to as “el 31.”

BiLingo Kidz, Diego story, tells of las posadas in Spanish as often celebrated in Mexico.

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Salvadoran Art and Culture

kidz
Nov 22 |20:40

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The mini-stories in BiLingo Kidz are embedded with culture.  The first stories are of María Esther, a 10 year old Salvadoran.

Post colonial cities in Latin America have a church in the center of the city with a park in front.  The first painting in BiLingo Kidz is of Esther playing at the plaza central, the park in front of the the central cathedral in San Salvador, the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior (Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador).

The facade of the cathedral has tiles painted by Fernando Llort and team.  The tiles depict the life of the Salvadoran people.  The following is a quote from Fernando Llort taken from his website:  “The Catholic Church from El Salvador asked me to design the facade for the Cathedral.  This has been one of the most inspiring artistic moments of my life, cause it meant to meant I was putting my art on a very important symbol of my country, with a huge historical value.  It was a work that took us (me and a group of artisans) around 1 year to finish.”

Fernando Llort is a theologian, artist and teacher.  He moved from the city of San Salvador to a small town in northern El Salvador, La Palma. It was here that Fernando began his artistic endeavors in earnest and taught the people of La Palma to adapt his style of art and make a living from their art as in the cross below.

As mentioned above, Llort shared his passion with the people of La Palma.  I would suggest to teachers that you show example of Llort’s artwork passed on to the Salvaoran people through painted crosses they created.  The crosses depict their lives and spirituality.  Students could draw and color their own symbols in the shape of a cross to experience the art form more fully.

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Serving in the Peace Corps

kidz
Nov 22 |19:58

I had the good fortune of serving in the Peace Corps in El Salvador.  That’s where I was first introduced to Spanish.  I quickly learned conversational Spanish as I would have had NO ONE to speak with in English in my village of Victoria, Cabañas, El Salvador.  It was a great time of my life as I was young , energetic and ready to make a difference.  Little did I know!!!  I quickly learned that I knew NOTHING in my new environment.  You see, I was part of a group that work in Agriculture Extension.  We all had some background in 4-H or FFA or lived in a rural area, etc.  We were suppose to know something about homemaking and agriculture.  I had worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken so when the women asked me to show them how to make “American chicken” I remember thinking that I could do that.  The end result disastrous!!!  I had never cleaned and dressed a chicken.  In the states, they are delivered all ready to go.  I was not skilled at controlling the temperature of an open pit fire, nor did I know anything about frying in a clay round pot!!!  Finally I admitted that the women should take over and add tomatoes and whatever else to salvage the chicken, a prized commodity.

My initiation into the Salvadoran culture helped me  to listen and learn from others.  The Salvadoran people changed my life and they continue to teach me about life.  I am grateful for my Salvadoran community.

I was successful at teaching the children to do some sewing and public speaking through demonstrations.  But even sewing was a challenge.  I was an accomplished seamstress having made my clothes throughout high school BUT I sewed on an electric sewing machine and I used a pattern to cut out the fabric.  In El Salvador the seamstresses sew without a pattern and they can make any dress you ask them to make from a picture!!  I was able to buy patterns in the capital and borrow a treadle machine to make my own clothing but I was only able to help the children make a skirt by hand.

So you might ask, did she do anything constructive in the Peace Corps?  I do consider myself a successful Peace Corps Volunteer.  According the  Peace Corps website are:  1)  Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, 2)Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served, and 3)Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

I can proudly say that I accomplished all of the mission to some degree.  As a result of my understanding that culture and customs are different from country to country and sometimes from region to region, I see that teaching culture along with teaching language is an important component to world understanding.  I created BiLingo Kidz, a Spanish software program for ages 7-14, that has culture embedded into the mini stories of children from Latin America.  This software program is unique.  According to HISPANIA, a Journal of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Sept. 2008, “all narrators are native speakers from the featured countries.  BiLingo Kidz is a fun way to learn not only Spanish, but also Latin American culture in general.  The stories, photos and films, self-pacing features, and recycling exercises make this language learning software a pleasure and will please, instruct, and challenge kids of all ages.”

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