Hoops: Not Just a Preschool
I am a member of several speech communities, but only one has made a difference in my life. I was fortunate enough to volunteer at Hoops pre-school and I have been very thankful for the experience. I quickly adapted and realized that Hoops is tailored for the development of the minds of toddlers, but I made this community’s speech patterns a huge part of each of my other communities. I began speaking slower and using a more simplistic language, and emphasizing certain words as if I were speaking to the toddlers in the classes that I assisted in.
Because Hoops was established to develop the minds of toddlers, a very simple curriculum as well as a simple language was used. The curriculum included everything that is needed so that the toddlers re prepared for kindergarten, everything form the alphabet to basic shapes and even how to spell their own name. Because of this simplicity, the language was very basic. Basic colors, basic shapes, only things that children would know. However, even more than that, there was no sarcasm because the children would not understand; there was no symbolic meanings behind what was said. It was a very direct language.
When I first started volunteering at hoops, I felt like I was in a foreign land. I feel very embarrassed for admitting this, but I had a hard time at first with my language. I have always loved small children, but I had only been around a handful regularly. My first day I almost let damn and hell slip several times, but caught myself just as the words were going to pass my lips. Within a week, I adapted to speaking child friendly and began using words like silly, dang, and sweetie. Within a month, I was speaking full-blown Hoops. I spoke high pitched and bubbly, which was completely out of character to me. I had started to become a completely different person.
At the same time, I began to see personality changes around my family and friends. I was never a patient person, but as time...