The First Talk Time Night

I went into one of the neighborhoods to begin a new "Talk Time." My oldest daughter and I got there a bit early. We decided to sit and wait outside until all of the other "native English" speakers arrived. As we sat there one of the summer reading kids walked up and then another and then another. When they came up to me they asked every time when I was going to start reading and why I wasn't walking to the other side. I kept telling them that I was not here to read this evening (we don't have a reader yet for Tuesday) but instead I was here to visit a home. The kids didn't like that answer. Finally after a few minutes and ten children hovering around us we sent one of the kids off for a reading book. Our oldest daughter and one of the volunteers for Talk Time (tt) sat down with kids all around them and on their laps reading.About half way through the book, the women of (tt) had entered the neighborhood and were ushered upstairs to begin. We regained our readers and off we went. First we spent some time doing small talk to get the ball rolling, then we did a little review as I wanted to know the level of understanding that the non-native speakers have. The Turkish women in this group are great fun and outgoing, therefore they have a real need to communicate and their English shows it. They are really trying hard. After we had finished reading we decided to play a little game. I asked a native speaker what the sound for a chicken is in English. I was answered quickly "cock-a-doodle-doo" I then asked one of the Turkish women. She answered "co-ka-ree-co" Another person brought up an animal and we were off imitating animals. One of the women began to act out the facial expressions and body movements of horses, dogs, cats and pigs. By the time the story changed we were laughing very hard and enjoying ourselves. During the animal reenactments, a coffee table was pulled into the center of the room, tea was served with cakes, chocolate, candied jam and Uzbek bread. We enjoyed tea together and talked more. It was interesting that the previous conversation had made our friends think about their past lives. The Turkish women are a family, mother, three daughters and two granddaughters were with us. They began to talk about growing up on a farm in Uzbekistan, about how hard life was for Turkish refugees, the trek from Georgia (the region of Turkey they are originally from) and the then lastly their years in Russia. We left their apartment late. The night was a great success, everyone laughed and talked. At the end they walked us to our cars. It was a great night! Thanks to all of the volunteers who joined in and made it the night that it was. I attached a document below so that you could read about the experiences of this group of women. http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/dws/programs/refugees/Word_documents/mturksprofile.docAs an aside- most of the links I am able to send to you are found and given to me courtesy of the resident CATCH! historian, Jill Eden. Thanks Jill for all of your work.