Noemi Hiraishi

Dear unschoolers,

I've come back to daily digest after being on no mail for 3 months. We live
in Tokyo and dd and I were on visiting my family in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
First I want to thank every one of you for sharing your views and
experiences.

Many of you already know that I am a second generation Japanese-Brazilian,
dd is 8 yo and her father is Japanese. We have been unschooling since 3
years ago and that I belong to this list since it was created 2 years ago. I
have not been able to keep up with the volume of the post of the list but
whenever I have a chance I read some of it. Deb has been very kind to let
me know if there is a discussion going on that are very close to our way of
unschooling. (tks Deb! We are back. )

We have a HSlers group here in Tokyo that promotes outings at least once a
week. We are at: http://www.homeschoolinginjapan.org
.......
Dd can read and write in Japanese, but when she needs to read "instructions"
on how to do things, like applying for prizes advertised in comic books, she
comes to me or to her father. She says that there are too many words there.

Thinking of that, when she is reading on her own, she basically has comic
books on her lap. And there in Brazil she always asks me to buy her comics
books in Portuguese. And I see her concentrated and laughing. Once in a
while she comes to me to read some passages to her. I have found that she
"gets" most of the contents. She is not reading the words, she is "reading"
the pictures. So I am lead to believe that "reading" does not have to be
only from "letters". Out there, there are many unschoolers that are not
reading the words yet, and yet are able to get/have the inf he/she needs to
live and keep on learning.

I need to keep myself for pushing myself to "help" dd learn to read
Portuguese. I need to let her develop, use fully all the creative power she
has to understand the word. I need to make myself know that "reading" is
only one way of understanding/expanding the world around me. too bad that I
give it more value/power than it really has, when it comes to the
understanding of the world around us . I wish I become wiser and become
able to write down about the power of understanding/expanding one's world
understanding without relying on to the written language; for the
compreension of it.

love and peace

Deborah Lewis

Noemi!

I'm so glad you're back!

I have been really interested in hearing how your daughter is learning
Portuguese. I enjoyed your post and your thoughts about reading.

You know Dylan has been interested in learning Japanese and does know a
little when he hears it. He's been watching movies in Japanese to see
how much he can understand and it's more than I do, that's for sure. It
would be easier for him if he could talk to someone regularly, a friend
close by, but there is no one in our little town who speaks it. He
can't read it, but is now starting to write a little, when he folds an
origami animal, he finds the name in Japanese and writes it on the
animal.

Maybe he'll lose interest before he learns it well, but he has enjoyed
exploring another language and it's led to so many other, different
interests.

He now can say the names of many of the countries of the world in
Portuguese, thanks to you!

It's great to see you posting again!

Deb

coyote's corner

Hi,
I may have missed the post. Please tell me about learning Portugese. What program are you using? Brianna & I have been talking about learning Portugese, but there are so many programs. I'd really like to discuss this w/ you.

Thanks,
Peace,
Janis
----- Original Message -----
From: Deborah Lewis
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Reading/Intro


Noemi!

I'm so glad you're back!

I have been really interested in hearing how your daughter is learning
Portuguese. I enjoyed your post and your thoughts about reading.

You know Dylan has been interested in learning Japanese and does know a
little when he hears it. He's been watching movies in Japanese to see
how much he can understand and it's more than I do, that's for sure. It
would be easier for him if he could talk to someone regularly, a friend
close by, but there is no one in our little town who speaks it. He
can't read it, but is now starting to write a little, when he folds an
origami animal, he finds the name in Japanese and writes it on the
animal.

Maybe he'll lose interest before he learns it well, but he has enjoyed
exploring another language and it's led to so many other, different
interests.

He now can say the names of many of the countries of the world in
Portuguese, thanks to you!

It's great to see you posting again!

Deb

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deborah Lewis

***I may have missed the post. Please tell me about learning Portuguese.
What program are you using? Brianna & I have been talking about learning
Portugese, but there are so many programs. I'd really like to discuss
this w/ you.***

Noemi, who is on this list, spends a few months in Brazil each year and
her daughter is learning Portuguese using the "immerse yourself in it"
program. Dylan learned a few words from a HUGE world map Noemi sent
us.

No program, just life.

Dylan has learned some Japanese from the Power Glide language program.
I don't know if they're worth the money new but you can find them used
all over the place. That might say something about their effectiveness,
I don't know. It starts out with a kind of mnemonic programming which
seems to work for just remembering words.

But here's a thing we did that is really wonderful for all kinds of
things pertaining to another language or culture. We contacted the
Japanese Consulate in Seattle and asked them to send us stuff. They
did! Books, magazines, a flag, brochures, articles, posters, all kinds
of things, and we now have access to their lending library of Japanese
videos, movies, books and books on tape, etc. Very cool, all free
except for shipping one way.

Deb L

coyote's corner

Thanks so much for the information and the ideas! We live in East Providence which is a very Portuguese neighborhood, so we are surrounded - at least as far as being in the US! We've looked at different programs, but there's money and then there's effectiveness!!
I'll call the Portuguese Consulate tomorrow. I believe we have one in Providence!

Thanks so much!!
Janis Calouro
Coyotes Corner
www.coyotescorner.com
Very Cool Stuff for the World
You are cool, aren't you?
----- Original Message -----
From: Deborah Lewis
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Reading/Intro


***I may have missed the post. Please tell me about learning Portuguese.
What program are you using? Brianna & I have been talking about learning
Portugese, but there are so many programs. I'd really like to discuss
this w/ you.***

Noemi, who is on this list, spends a few months in Brazil each year and
her daughter is learning Portuguese using the "immerse yourself in it"
program. Dylan learned a few words from a HUGE world map Noemi sent
us.

No program, just life.

Dylan has learned some Japanese from the Power Glide language program.
I don't know if they're worth the money new but you can find them used
all over the place. That might say something about their effectiveness,
I don't know. It starts out with a kind of mnemonic programming which
seems to work for just remembering words.

But here's a thing we did that is really wonderful for all kinds of
things pertaining to another language or culture. We contacted the
Japanese Consulate in Seattle and asked them to send us stuff. They
did! Books, magazines, a flag, brochures, articles, posters, all kinds
of things, and we now have access to their lending library of Japanese
videos, movies, books and books on tape, etc. Very cool, all free
except for shipping one way.

Deb L

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To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]