Las Cosas Demas

It's hard for me to believe that in just over a month I will be living in rural Mexico. Wow. So for this journal entry I just want to ponder a little bit about the things that I still need to do before I leave on my trip.

First off I need to focus on my research.  There are a few things that I need to get done before I go.  I need to talk to Fernando Gomez at the Mexican Mormon History Museum to get a better idea of how the church first got to Central Mexico, and then to the city of Irapuato.  I also have been talking with my mentor, Mark, about taking a trip up to Salt Lake to look into the official LDS Church archives to get some names and dates of the original members of the church in Irapuato and the time of their conversion.

I also need to work with Mark and with whoever my new contract mentor will be for the cultural proofs class.  I need to discuss with them more about the actual course work that I will be doing in the field.  I also need to set a firmer reading agenda for the classes.  Right now I have three books that I think will work for my Academic Internship class reading, one is about Church History in Mexico, another is Octavio Paz's "Labyrinth of Solitude" about what it means to be Mexican, and a third is about translation between Spanish and English. I will need to verify these texts with Mark, and find probably 1 or 2 more books in order to fill the classes page requirement.

I will also need to prepare for the international travel part of the trip.  This will include completing the Kennedy Center Proposal for my prep course, as well as doing the routine pre-trip preparation such as doctor's visits and shopping for supplies.  I will need to be sure that I am prepared for daily life in the field, for all things necessary for completing my project, and for any medical emergencies or preparation/prevention strategies and materials that I may need.

Overall, it should be a great trip!

Benjamin

Transcription and Translation

I have been trying to discover some Spanish music that I like, and luckily I have found some to help me get in the mood-- artists like Gaby Moreno and Reik.  I'm still searching and finding new things, but listening to Spanish music has got me thinking recently about a few of the most challenging aspects that will come with my project-- transcribing and translation.

As I think about what lies ahead, those are the two things that scare me most about my project.  I mean, I believe that I have the gumption and the moxie to get out and start talking with people and improve my speaking skills, but what if I can't understand the interviews on the audio recordings? What if I don't know any of the words that are used in the interviews? How am I going to even hope to translate these stories into English? And what about translating my own words into Spanish?

 I will, of course, need some supplies such as a great dictionary (both an English/Spanish dictionary, as well as just an amazing Spanish dictionary), I will need some of the best audio recording supplies, something that picks up great sound, is portable, and has an easily manageable playback capability. But besides supplies, I will need a definite skill set to take with me to the field, for without that experience I will come to a complete standstill.

I have therefore determined that I need to be doing a few activities that will help me practice my transcribing and translation.  I have a book about Spanish translation that I will be reading, but I want to get some actual practice in.  I'm sure there are many ways to do this, and I am open to suggestions, but I think I have had one great idea... with a little help from Gaby and Reik, I have all the material I need!

Listening closely to the songs that I have recently discovered, and trying to transcribe "la letra" [the lyrics] will be a great way to help me practice, and give me some practical ideas and tips that can only come from experience.  I'm sure it will be hard to understand all of the lyrics over the music, but that's why I'm practicing right?  Then I will try to create my own rough translation of the lyrics.

The best part about this, is it means listening to more music that I like... :)

Benjamin

Sources

I have been having a really hard time finding sources lately.  I thought that I would be able to find a lot through the church archives, but it turns out that the archives are not accessible online, so I will need to go to Salt Lake City in order to complete my research on that end.  From my searches through BYU's library website, and on the world wide web itself I haven't been able to find anything very pertinent.  Another possible source has been Irapuato's newspaper, El Sol de Irapuato, which has some articles online, but I don't think they have much of their older stuff and I don't really know how to search in Spanish very well, for instance, I probably still wouldn't have any idea which key words to search for, even if I had the vocabulary.

What I really need is an expert.  I am going to go later this week, Thursday, and talk with Fernando Gomez, the curator for the Mormon Mexico History Museum here in Provo.  He has spent most of his life collecting information about the history of the LDS church in Mexico, so I hope that not only will he have some pertinent information for me, but that he will be able to point me in the right direction for the rest of my research.

Return of the Jedi

Last week my mentor, Mark, got back from his sabbatical leave in Morocco and it was really great to meet with him.  Mark has traveled over south America to complete over 70 of these types of interviews in different languages;  he is just the man for the job, and now he is back.  We had a great meeting on Tuesday wherein he was able to point me in the right direction concerning my research and preparation.

One of the great things that I learned was how to access the church archives online.  Because I have already conducted a lot of general research, the study that lies before me is now merely two-fold;  I will do research on the secular history of Irapuato and the surrounding area, and I will use Church archives to get a general idea of dates, time periods, and names for the early church within Irapuato.

Interestingly, another idea came up that if I can find any of the missionaries who served in the early days of Irapuato, then I could possibly interview them before my trip to Mexico.  The odds are good that there are a few that live nearby as BYU does lie within the center of the Mormon community.

In essence, I am just grateful to have Mark on board, I couldn't do this without him and I feel that his contribution to my learning will be invaluable.  Mentorships are the best.  I am glad that I am planning to a teacher so that one day I may also be a mentor to a young padawan, and train him in the ways of the force.

Fears

I've been meaning to do this post for a little while, and I hope that I can do so in the right way.  You see, it is important sometimes to acknowledge our fears so that we can take a closer look at them and realize that they may not be that scary after all.  Fear all really stems from one thing: the unknown, think about it and you will recognize that most of your fears will come from, at least in part, the fact that you don't know how things will be.

What are some of my fears in going to Mexico?  First of all one of my major fears is not being able to communicate well.  I am still learning the language and I don't want to be stuck inside my head surrounded by people that I don't understand.  I am practicing Spanish everyday, and I am overall not too concerned, however I do sometimes wonder what hinderences will bar my path because of my inability to express myself fluently or understand others completely.

I suppose this stems from not know the full extent of my Spanish abilities, coupled with me not know how well I will be able to understand the native speakers there.  There are a few things I can do about this: first, I need to get a better understanding of my speaking level.  This is tied to the idea that I need to create a better study plan to acquire the Spanish language.  Second I need to practice my ability to understand native speakers.

Both of these problems are primarily solved by practicing speaking with people from Mexico, and I am lucky that I have a few Mexican friends.  But I can also practice comprehension by watching movies in Spanish and practice speaking by setting a certain amount of time each day that I will speak Spanish with my roommate or class mates or others.  Lastly, I can always ask for help and advice from a large group of friends that served foreign language missions and have more skills and experience in language acquisition than myself.

So... that's the plan (rule the world).  It's simple right?

Benjamin

Interview Method Practice and Language Acquisition

This morning I interviewed my roommate, Gordy, about his mission.  I wasn't going to find anybody to interview about the history of the church in Irapuato, Mexico, so I figured that because he served in Samara, Russia, that was the next best thing... right?

Luckily I did find some correlation to my project.  While I was learning about missionary work in Russia, Gordy brought up language study, which is something that I didn't have to do on my mission.  In response to my questions he explained the difference between a good language study plan and a bad one.

A bad language study plan errs very close to not having a language study plan at all.  For a little while on his mission he said he would just read the scriptures in Russian and, though it helped a little, there is only so much you can learn from this approach.  It is important to try lots of different approaches.  As he taught me, "you are going to speak the language about 5,000 more times than you will read or write it," so it is very important to incorporate that usage of speech into your language study plan.

Some of the things that he found effective, that I want to try not only while in the field but as I study the language before hand, include activities that he would do throughout the day.  For instance, if he was talking with someone and he heard a word he didn't understand, he would write it down to look up later.  Also, if he was trying to communicate something but didn't have the right vocabulary or grammar structure in the moment, then he would be sure to make note of that and learn how to correctly say that at a later time.

As language acquisition is one of the main focuses of my field study, I am very grateful for these methodological insights into language study plans.  I feel that this interview/methods practice proved more helpful than I originally thought it would be.

¡Chido!

A Spanish Sherlock

In order to complete my first Methods Practice I had to become a participant observer in a social situation (which is defined by three factors: place, actors, and activities).  I chose to observe the groundhog's day party that my roommates and I were throwing last Friday.  The place: My apartment.  The actors: my friends.  And the Activities: cards and party games.

It is interesting to me that each of these three elements, especially the first two, were very personal to me.  Because the setting and the actors were familiar I felt at ease, comfortable and ready.  The activities were also familiar to me, and as party games for me have the a positive effect, I once again felt at home and comfortable in the environment.

I wonder how this factor of familiarity played a role in my role as an observing participant.  I admit that it was easier to loose sight of my task in an environment that I had done almost everything but field work before.  I had to be careful not to get too wrapped up the the activities that I left my role as an observer.

In Mexico I think I will have a different problem. Here all of the actors were my friends beforehand. There I will be an observer, an outsider from the start.  I may have to take into account some skewed results from reactivity. At my party I could easily hide the fact that I was an observer, but in Mexico it will be blatantly obvious.  It may take some time for me to gain a level of trust with the people whom I will be associating with.

I really enjoyed that activity, even the part about writing the notes up afterwards. I felt a little like Sherlock Holmes, recording all of my observations. Yes, yes, quite smashing actually. I shall have to keep up my observations once I have reached the field; it's elementary, really.

El Desconocido: Or A Sketch of The Unknown

So I've discovered that planning for my project is a rather interesting challenge. I know so little about what is actually going to happen that sometimes I feel like I am shooting in the dark. I have discovered, however, that I can sort of map out what I do know and get an idea of what where I am headed. It's kind of like being given a blank canvas and being told to create a masterpiece. Where do you even start? But I suppose that if I start sketching some ideas in pencil that something will come to me. I mean, I don't have to fill in all of the shading and color until I am there in the field right? So here's a rough sketch...

I kind of have two halves of my painting that I have started sketching, the first is my look into the interest that I have, which I will discuss more in another post. The second aspect of my parameters and requirements though I have thought through a little more, so here goes a quick dumping of my mind art into black and white letters on this blog.

First I must first ask myself if I am bound by the interview techniques and specified outcome that my Mentor Señor Grover uses in his research. Will my findings be in collaboration with his work, or just tailored after that manner? If I do follow his structure completely then that gives me a greater sense of direction and I am not shooting in the dark as much. On the other hand, I don't even know to a full extent what the finished outcome of his work looks like. I may have to adjust my plans and my interests.

If I do work in tandem with Grover's work, then what do I have to work with? I do not yet know what the structure of his work looks like, nor have I seen an example of the finished product. He is currently on sabbatical leave right now, but should be coming back soon in February and I will be able to get a clearer idea of his work. But for now I only can speculate, which doesn't always provide accurate results.

If I mentor with Grover, but do a work separate in style and function from his, then I also need to consider my options. However with more options to consider it may be harder to decide on matters. I will also have the challenge of making sure that my project retains academic experience and fits within the requirements for the ORCA scholarship (which I have applied for and am hoping to receive).

As you can see there is a lot to think through, and so far this is just considering what I may or may not be required to do. I still need to consider what I would like to do, and the practicality of those views. But instead of starting with oil paint or pastels on the canvas, I have definitely found it helpful to create a few rough sketches on some scratch paper and see what I like.

Ahhh, art. :)