What is phonetics? and why is it important?

Imagine moving into a village in a foreign country with out knowing the language. You can't just buy a book or tape before you go on how to learn that language because this language has never been written down. In fact, you will probably be writing that book because you will be the one putting an alphabet together for this language. Since the sounds of this language is so different from English you won't be able to use our English alphabet. You wouldn't want to use our English alphabet anyway since there are so many letters that make more than one sound.

This video i found on youtube will show you what I mean!

 

In phonetics a letter equals one sound.

In our phonetics class we've been learning how to say, read and write those sounds. Our teacher will say a word and we have to transcribe what we hear him saying.

According to Wikipedia Phonetic transcription is a universal system for transcribing sounds that occur in spoken language. The most widely known system of phonetic transcription, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), uses a one-to-one mapping between phones and written symbols. The standardized nature of the IPA enables its users to transcribe accurately and consistently the phones of different languages, dialects, and idiolects. The IPA is a useful tool not only for the study of phonetics, but also for language teaching, professional acting, and speech pathology.

Our class was divided into two smaller classes for phonetics.

Here's my group.

We have a lot of fun laughing with each other as we sound and sometimes look silly making these sounds.



It's important to learn this because most of the places that our mission works are places that don't have a written language so the missionaries have to use phonetics in order to write down what they are hearing and then make an alphabet. They will then teach the people to read and write in their own language for the first time! Pretty cool stuff!


These charts have become familiar over the last couple months...

Wordless Wednesday

The Servant and the Child

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God"- Romans 8:16


"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” - John 15:15

A servant is accepted and appreciated on the basis of what he does.

A child on the basis of who he is.

The servant starts the day anxious and worried, wondering if his work will really please his mater.

The child rests in the secure love of the family.

The servant is accepted because of his workmanship.

The son or daughter because of a relationship.

The servant is accepted because of his productivity and performance.

The child belongs because of his position as a person.

At the end of the day, the servant has peace of mind only if he is sure he has proven his worth by his work. The next morning his anxiety starts all over again.

The child can be secure all day and know that tomorrow won’t change his status.

When a servant fails, his whole position is at stake. He might lose his job.

When a child fails, he is not afraid of being thrown out. His basic confidence is in belonging and being loved, and his performance does not change the stability of his position.

ELink Work Day

Our small group here at the MTC (missionary training center) worked together this weekend to take down eight trees for a neighbor in town.

Here's my man hard at work

(Thanks Sue for the photo!)

Look at them working so hard!

I didn't hear one word of complaint even though it was raining and everyone got soaked!

Geoff let us try our hands at tree climbing with his gear.

I can now tell you from first hand experience... it's harder than he makes it look!

                                       

Especially when crazy men with chain saws come near the base of the tree you're in!

Ethan spent his time flirting with the ladies...

I tried to convince him I'm the only girl for him! =)

What did you do this weekend?

Happy Monday!

Smiling is infectious...

Elijah John - May 2009

Smiling is infectious you catch it like the flu

When someone smiled at me today

I started smiling too I passed around the corner

And some saw my grin
When he smiled I realized I’d passed it on to him
I thought about that smile then I realized its worth

A single smile just like mine could travel round the earth
So if you feel a smile begin
Don't leave it undetected
Let's start an epidemic quick and get the world infected

 



 
Check out the Facebook Mother's Day Photo Contest- we are excited to be a finalist! To vote for our entry click here, become a fan of Melissa Jean Photography and then click "like" under the photo you want to vote for. It doesn't have to be mine, but i'd love you forever if it was! =)

Spring Fun

Ethan's Grandma in FL wanted to see him walking so this video started out with a video of just that but soon turned into a bit more.

Enjoy Grandma! =)

Favorite Foto Friday

Elijah and Kyle

Buddies and Cousins

Scarlet Threads Apron Giveaway!

Remember when I shared about Scarlet Threads?

They are the organization giving women in rual China an opportunity to make a living and provide for their families. What mom doesn't want

Well, you have another chance to win one of these adorable aprons!

Karen at Green Onions is giving the winner their choice of apron in celebration of her one year blogging anniversary!

Giveaway is open worldwide.

And if you really want to get your name in for one of these pretty aprons here are some other blogs with Scarlet Threads giveways!

Tea and Crumpets- She's giving away a Caroline. - Ends Friday 4/23!

1 Savvy Housewife is giving away Caroline, too! Hurry! This one ends today! Thursday 4/22!

AnnOnandOn is celebrating her 500th Follower by hosting a giveaway a day all this week. If she reaches 30 comments on the Scarlet Threads post, she will give away a Molly Apron!

Moms Making a Million is giving away a $3500 prize pack, which includes our Anna Apron! - Ends May 7th!

Wordless Wednesday- Kisses for Ethan

Introducing...

Our newest nephew Micah!

April 20, 2010

Born to my brother and sister in law.

Congratulation Gavin and Alison!

Isn't he hansome!?

Spring Collage

 

Are you all enjoying the beautiful spring as much as i am?

You can help change a life!

I'm so excited for a sweet bloggy friend of mine because she is is going to be able to bring her daughter home from China in only three weeks!

Here's a part of the post TanyaLea wrote recently...

"Khloe Mei, as we have named her, will be coming home soon. She just turned two back in Feb. and we are beyond excited to meet her in person! Khloe resides at New Day Foster Home near Beijing where she is thriving and growing into a fun little toddler. She arrived there at barely 3mos. old, in dyer need of their top-notch love and care. Khloe was born with a condition called bladder exstrophy, where her bladder was literally exposed on the outside of her body. Because of her more serious need, not even the larger city hospitals were equipped to handle her case. At just over 8mos. old, Khloe traveled with her caregivers to Hong Kong to undergo various tests and meet with specialists to prepare for the extensive surgery. On Sept. 20th, 2008, she underwent her long and complicated surgery, and it was clear she was not alone...God was there with her! She experienced great 'miracles' that are now part of her testimony, and ours. You see, I was part of the emergency prayer team and had the privilege of praying for this sweet baby girl, long before I knew she would one day be our daughter! (I will share "our story" on our family blog sometime in the not-to-distant future; I promise!! ...It is a neat one, with God's fingerprints all over it!) Khloe is now a flourishing toddler and our family is beyond ready to have her home!"

Click here to read the whole thing.

It's been exciting to follow along with this family as they've gotten closer and closer to holding Khloe in their arms. My prayer is that every orphan will have a loving family working this hard to bring them home.

They are so close and yet this last step of traveling to China to get Khloe is going to cost a lot of money that they don't have right now. That is why an awesome fundraiser is going on to try to help reduce that burden a bit.

Click here to see how you can help out and the prizes you could win!

Snow Cones, Funnel Cakes and a Fish Named Ethan

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 "So Elijah what are you going to name your fish?"

"Ethan!"

"Why Ethan?"

"Because he's a baby fish!"