A dinner was held at The Flaming Copper Pot Restaurant in Mississauga on
October 17 to celebrate the successful conclusion of the first phase of
sixteen two hour weekly Konkani lessons in the GTA. Most of the fourteen
students who completed the course attended. As usual, the food and the
ambience was excellent and complemented by just as good service. The new
proprietor, Mr. Felix D'Souza (an Anjuncar, I am proud to say) has
maintained the standard set by Mr. Gerry Gomes.
The occasion was also used as a debriefing session in order to asses what
worked well and what areas could be improved upon. The following is a
summary of the points discussed.
1. Most felt that the best feature of the classes was the social and
convivial atmosphere of the classes. "We were amongst friends and had a lot
of fun" said Corrine.
2. The break after the first hour of the two hour session was felt to be
too long and the snacks tended to get more elaborate as the weekly classes
progressed. In future, the break would be no more than 10 minutes with just
cookies and water offered.
3. Another suggestion was to separate the class into two groups -
Beginners, i.e. those who are being introduced to the language for the first
time and Intermediate, i.e. those who have some knowledge of the language.
This way the lessons can be focussed appropriately.
4. The classes were originally meant to focus on "colloquial Konkani".
However, this was not the case as it was felt that written and read Konkani
would be more beneficial to the learning process. This proved to be more
academic than practical and also more difficult than anticipated -
particularly as there is no standard way to spell (or pronounce) Konkani in
Roman script. One suggestion was to devote more time for students to
appreciate the nuances of Indian sounds as defined by the Devanagri script.
This did not find a lot a favour with the group as this would be difficult
for the uninitiated. Another suggestion was that the classes in the future
concentrate on short and simple spoken Konkani phrases and sentences and
dispense with the reading and writing part. This way, the students will be
better equipped to use what they learned in a practical way.
Post meeting note: In my discussions about our Konkani lessons with an
associate of the Goan Konkani Troupe, the last point of "short and simple
Konkani phrases . . ." was supported and reinforced by him saying that the
students should be immersed into a Konkani speaking session where no English
is spoken except by the tutor.
The next session of classes is planned for the fall of 2004.
Stay tuned.
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