School & TAing

This semester my schedule is (roughly):

Language & Society: July 15-Sept 15
TA for Grammar: July 15-Aug 15
Hebrew 2: July 15-Oct 15
A course on machine translation: Sept 15-Dec 15
Old Testament Exegesis: Oct 15-Dec 15
Massive exam which determines if I get an MA or not: all day Nov 23

So far I am really enjoying Hebrew. After a few days of struggle to get over the I-didn’t-study-much-over-the-summer hump, I’ve found that it’s much easier to retain Hebrew now. In Hebrew 1 we read a chapter from the textbook on structure & memorized some words but only had four big tests. Now we read a little in English, but it’s breaking down a verse for us, and then we read & translate a few verses, and memorize 10 words that we have a daily quiz on. I’m finding that it’s starting to stick, make sense and is getting significantly easier to read.

I’ve also enjoyed being a TA for grammar, except maybe on those days when I just don’t feel like I taught well or had good answers for the students. I’m glad we get to rotate groups, so they’ll get to learn from somebody who might be a little better, but it’s kind of sad to not have the same seven I’ve had for the last two weeks, they were fun. I’ve found that teaching can be really enjoyable as you see the students grow and learn – but others reminded me that this is not atypical learning environment. Grad students, especially here, tend to be more motivated than undergrad or lower.

A few days into the semester I was offered the opportunity to TA for Phonology as soon as the Grammar course was over. I enjoy that class, and would have enjoyed continuing with my students, but there’s that ominous, huge exam hovering on the horizon. After thinking about it, looking at finances, and praying about it, I had just about decided to decline, but also didn’t know who would help the professor. My Grammar professor sent me an e-mail that just had a subject line, “Come see me sometime tomorrow.” I was worried, but it turned out that there is someone here who needs to have an assignment, and she’d like to TA for phonology. At almost the same time, God brought us another supporter. The whole process was a great reminder that God will take care of the time, stress, and finances – sometimes all in what seems like one fell swoop.

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