SDLC 110: Reading Reflection #7

[Casey Murano]

Somehow, it is the final day of class with Farida! I didn’t realize we did not have formal classes after the break, so it was a surprise when she told us that this was our last meeting together. I have very much enjoyed learning together.
This week, we have spent a lot of time preparing for our upcoming interview. Farida asked us questions about the process, and we responded in Indonesian. Some of the questions included: Have you reached out to your speaking partner? Yes, I emailed Lisana. Have you chosen a date yet? Not yet, but I will. Are you nervous? Very much. Conversations are stressful. Do you think this is a good final excitement? Yes, even if I am nervous, I think this will push me out of my comfort zone and challenge me to use the languages (speaking, after all, is the key to becoming fluent and also the reason I am learning the language in the first place.) What will you do if you don’t understand something? I will ask them to speak very slowly or repeat. I will do my very best to speak only in Indonesian. I’m happy we talked through these things and think that the interview will go well. After our conversation, we had two guests who come to our class: extra speaking practice! We had to do practice interviews with Farida’s friend. The first one I did was a little tricky because there were internet troubles and we had difficulty hearing and understanding one another. There were several moments of awkward silence. The second interview went much smoother. Since Farida’s friends are also language instructors, they know how to speak slowly and clearly, so we understand them. Her friends were supportive as we did our best to speak the new language. From this practice interview, I had some insights on how I can best prepare for the final conversation. First, I realized that even as I want the native speakers to talk slowly and clearly, I was asking relatively complicated questions and speaking pretty fast when I asked them. I think it is important that as a beginning speaker of Bahasa Indonesia, to use simple sentence constructions and seek to clearly and slowly articulate my questions. I plan to go back in and edit these. Second, I need to make sure that I know how to ask the basic questions: How do you say _ in Bahasa Indonesia? What does _mean? Can you repeat that? These questions are so important for continuing the conversation while remaining in the target language. There were a couple of moments during the practice interviews when my mind went blank and these questions would have been very helpful.
Our speaking assignment this Tuesday was to film the first part of our final exam and answer the question of what our interview topic is and why we chose it. I am writing about public places and tourism sites because I like geography. I also find myself using this vocabulary pretty often and feel pretty comfortable with it. During the next weeks, I will contact Lisana to schedule my interview, revise my questions, and practice vocabulary related to places so that I am all set for the final exam!