A Language Comparison

From Brad.

I've come to believe that the quickest way to promote humility in one's life is to try to learn a new language. I've been at this language thing at a pretty good clip now for about 2-3 months (with the first month or two dedicated to getting set up and adjusted). Progress is being made and my vocabulary is being expanded, but only with great effort. The maddening thing is that although I find myself wanting to plow through my language books and deepen my ability to communicate, I still feel a great need to work on the most basic of all things...pronunciation. In theory, one learns how to pronounce everything correctly first and then begins the arduous task of memorizing and assimilating. But in a tonal language which is not your own, it's just not that easy.

As Savannah continues to pick up more and more words, I've increasingly heard the locals here say "oh, your pronunciation is perfect/standard." All the while, there is a deafening silence regarding my pronunciation. My house helper suggested the other day that I practice the tones over and over until I master them because "my pronunciation is not accurate". Well, at least I got a new vocabulary word out of that exchange...accurate. Truth be known, she is correct. My pronunciation is understandable, but foreign. In the beginning, this is true for all adults who attempt to learn a second language, and the foreignness is only eliminated with great effort over time. So I'm left admiring my daughter's language skills knowing that I'm exerting 30-40 hrs/week more than her trying to learn and perfect this language. Yes, she's got me whipped in pronunciation, but I can boast in the following:

• When we play our language game together, I typically score in the high 90s and she averages in the mid 60s. Ha!
• I can still communicate (for a little while) with her mom in this second language and she has no clue what we are saying.
• When we hop in a taxi or step into a restaurant, I am the one who gives the destination or the order because my vocabulary is bigger.
• I will often ask her what 'so-and-so' word means in our new language, and when she responds, 'I don't know'...I gloat.
• Whenever she makes a mistake in public...I laugh out loud and announce to everyone that I knew the correct word.

Yeah, she's got me beat in pronunciation, but underneath she's got language problems and faults that are not as easy to see. She's not the language stud that they think she is and if you put the whole package together, I think I edge her out. Besides, one guy from Africa the other day said I am really good at this language. I responded by saying 'I'm not really good' but inside I thought, 'you know, he's right, I am really good at this language'. It's too bad Savannah wasn't there to hear that exchange.

Quick School Story

by Amy.

Well, I went back to the kindergarten with Savannah today, and I brought my language tutor who was acting as my translator. So we left Savannah in the classroom with all the other kids and went downstairs to talk to the administrator about finalizing details. When we came back to the classroom I was a little surprised at what I saw. All of the kids were sitting in a semi-circle around the room as the teacher sat in the middle reading a story, with Savannah by her side. I was a little unsure why she would single Savannah out and have her sit there. (I've heard stories of other foreign kids being used as English teachers, which I'm not too excited about since I want her to learn the new language, not teach English.) So, after class as we walked home, I asked Savannah why the teacher made her sit there. She responded with, "Oh she didn't make me sit there - I wanted to, so I just picked up my chair and moved it next to her. She didn't mind. Did you see the yellow dress my teacher was wearing? I loved it!" So, clearly my daughter was feeling petty comfortable there today! I did see her smile a lot more today and try to talk to several kids around her. She seemed way more like her normal self, which I was thankful for.

School for Savannah

by Amy

Well, I am so excited to report that Savannah and I visited a Kindergarten today! Brad and a friend of ours found the place last week, and believe it or not, they were willing to take a foreign kid! The location is not bad....It took a little under 20 min. to get there with mainly walking and also hopping on a bus for one stop. We can easily take a taxi, if we're ever in a pinch.


The schools here are different than the ones we have in the states. The most noticeable difference is the teacher to kid ratio. Today it was 1:36. Nope, that's not a typo; there were 36 five-year-olds in a room with one teacher! And, it was loud, but not nearly as chaotic as you would expect. All of the kids stayed seated pretty well and would quiet down when the teacher clapped her hands or played a tambourine. :) Savannah was really quiet and not quick to try the few words that she knows, but she claims she's super excited to go back tomorrow.

So, as of right now, our plan is for Savannah to attend Kindergarten everyday from 8:30-10:30. That way, she misses the meals. This school serves breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner to all their kids. But, with Savannah's allergies, we feel better not having her eat there right now. Allergies are not taken very seriously here. Then, from about 11:00-12:00 or 12:30 I will home school her, with Peter and Alex participating in some of the home schooling, like listening to the stories I read and coloring. We are all really looking forward to homeschooling starting. I had this really cool table made for under 100 USD!

Tomorrow, Savannah will head back to school and I will bring a friend who will come translate for me. I will be able to have a few of my questions answered and give Savannah a chance to be in the room without me next to her. Then, we will have to get a physical for her before she can return full time. We will hopefully take care of that this week. Then, on Sunday we are heading to a coastal city for a little vacation for a few days. So, it looks like Savannah will start attending daily on Sept. 3. So, those of you who thought of us concerning a school for Savannah, thank you, thank you!

Here's another cute pic of my cute girl ready for her first day of school!

Date Night

by Amy

Ok, so when we lived in America, Brad and I loved our date nights. We were apart of a date-night-swap which meant we didn't even have to pay for babysitting. So, when we got to our new country we were committed to having date nights, even if it meant we had to pay for a sitter. So, soon after we moved into our apartment, my English-speaking language tutor, Maggie, offered to watch our kids while we went out. (Babysitters are non-existent in our country as so many in-laws live near or with their kids and are always available to watch the grandchild.) But Maggie had heard that Americans like to date even after they are married, so she thought she should offer to watch our kids for us since we don't have any family in town.

For the last several months Maggie has come to our home once every other week to feed our kids dinner and play with them while Brad and I go out. I must admit, at first, I was a little uneasy about leaving my kids with her. Granted, she's 27 years old, but had never babysat any kids before (not when they were awake, at least.) And, she didn't seem to have a really firm hand, and three-year old twin boys often require a firm hand, if you know what I mean. But, I decided that as long as my kids were alive when I got home, I'd be thrilled to have a few hours out with Brad.....

After the first few times she babysat us, both Peter and Alex ended up being disciplined for not obeying Maggie's sweet, quiet, little voice. But the last several times have gone much better. We're never exactly sure what goes on while we're going, but choose to operate under the "don't ask -- don't tell" mentality. Several times in the last week both Peter and Alex, separately, have said, "I want Mommy and Daddy to go bye-bye so Maggie can stay with me." After the first request, I thought it was so sweet that they love Maggie so much. But, after several more requests for Maggie, I began to wonder what really happens here when we're gone....

So, last night was our date night. I fixed the kids dinner plates and had them ready to go in the microwave. I told Maggie that if they ate all their dinner they could have some cherished chocolate pudding (straight from America!) I put some in three bowls and requested that she not give them anymore. But, Maggie often seems concerned about how much, or how little my kids eat, so I told her that if that they were still hungry, they could have some fruit from the frig. Then, I specifically said, "When they leave the dinner table, they may not eat any more the rest of the evening. So, if they don't eat all of their dinner, they maybe hungry later, but that's OK." (I figured they'd all eat all their dinner since I gave them several leftover options to choose from and had chocolate pudding waiting in the wings as a motivator!) I was right. Everyone ate all of their dinner, pudding and even some fruit. Plus, our kids said they didn't want water for dinner, so instead they drank a gallon of apple juice. :) About an hour after dinner was over someone discovered the homemade oatmeal cinnamon chocolate chip cookies in the pantry. So they convinced Maggie that they were still very hungry and needed to eat these cookies. But who can eat cookies without milk.... When Maggie was relaying all of this to us, she said, "So, I gave them cookies, and then they ordered milk to go with it." Ordered!? So, when Maggie's here our home turns into a restaurant! The locals here typically are very concerned about children eating enough. I've heard stories about parents chasing their children around the house with a bowl of rice trying to get them to eat their dinner. Yes, that's right, chasing their kids around the house during dinner time with a bowl of rice...very different parenting philosophies. :) But this might give some insight as to why Maggie would be hesitant to deny them food when they claim they are hungry.

Additionally, we often let our kids watch a movie on the computer while we're gone. So, they get the movie going and low and behold, Savannah requests popcorn. "Every time we watch a movie, we eat popcorn," she says so convincingly. Thankfully Maggie is not familiar with how to pop my imported microwave popcorn so she turns down that request, assuring Savannah that if she knew how to, she would make it for them, since popcorn always goes with a movie!

So, now we know why our kids are so eager for us to leave them with Maggie -- She let's them eat whatever they want! I have to admit we got a good laugh listening to her recap the night. I decided that next time I'm going to hide all of the food that might be of interest to the kids and see what happens!

What to do with 3 bored munchkins and a bottle of Pledge

From Brad. I have been known to do hardwood floors from time to time.

A Day at the Park

by Amy

Three days a week I like to leave my house around 7:45am and head to the "pretty park" down the road for a brisk morning walk (that occasionally turns into a jog for a few moments.) Every morning I come home with stories about the things I saw people doing there. So, this morning, I decided to take my camera and voice recorder and see what sights and sounds I could capture. Today was a fairly warm day with the sun shining brightly so it was a great day to take pictures.

Going to this park helps renew my love for this city and it's people. The air and even the ground seem a little cleaner there than at most places around town. And, early in the morning, most people are cheerful and quick to smile or offer an encouraging word as I walk by. (I usually can't understand what they are saying, but I assume it's encouraging since I'm working so hard!)

As I enter the park I I always see a lot of old people "dancing." Some times they are holding fake swords with ribbons tied to the end and sometimes they are hands-free, as in the picture below:

Then, as I rounded the corner, I found some women, all dressed alike dancing with fans. The lady in this picture was the leader of the others.

Every morning when I walk, I see this guy. He walks the opposite direction I do, so we pass each other twice everytime we go around the whole park. He stands out to me because he is one of the few people I see in exercise clothes. We always smile and say hello.

This park has tons of pretty gazebos where people like to gather to practice singing or play an instrument.
There are also tons of blooming trees and plants at this park. It is named 100 Flower Park for a reason! They are really pretty! Peter and Alex love pointing all the flowers out to me because they know that "da Mama likes da flowers!"

Now, this is the main reason I brought my voice recorder. Every morning I'm at the park, I hear this lady, or others, doing the same thing. My local friends have told me that she's just exercising her lungs..."It's a very healthy thing to do."

As you could hear, this park is not exactly quiet. Not only are there people standing in the trees yelling, but the cicadas (locusts) love to make their presence known, as I'm sure you could hear. And, on top of that, many people like to make their own music.... It's not uncommon for people to sing, quite loudly, as they walk, or to stand under a tree and play an instrument. I'm sad to say, that I didn't push record on the voice recorder when I was taking this next picture.... The guy on the left is singing at the top of his lungs while his buddy plays the flute.... They were very pleased to pose for my camera.

Next, I came across this guy. Both of the things he's holding make a clicking and clacking sound.
And, it would not be my home town, if there were not occasionally automobiles on the walking path....

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my walk in the park! I am so thankful that it is right down the road, as we often go there to play! So, I think I'll end with showing you a few of the smiling faces I see each day! Most of these people saw me taking pictures and asked if I would take their picture too.

A Date With Alex

by Amy

Yesterday I took Alex out on a date. Brad and I often enjoy taking Savannah on dates. It provides good one-on-one time where we're able to get a good feel about how she's been dealing with life. Often we even have good spiritual conversations with her. I do realize that Alex is two years younger than Savannah and is a boy. So, my expectations for conversation were pretty low.... I just wanted to have fun with him and make him feel extra special and loved! This was the first time I've taken Alex out on a date. So, when I asked him where he wanted to go, he of course said Wal-Mart. He wanted to buy a new toy. Thanks to his Grandma, he associates dates with gifts. (She likes to take the kids out one at a time and buy them a special treat!) So we decided that I could take Alex to our version of Wal-mart right down the street to buy a treat as long as I let him know date does not equal toy. So, the first exciting thing we do is ride a bus! My sons love buses, but I don't know how to read the route signs so I only know how to ride one bus, down two stops to the big store -- we could have walked, but the big blue bus we got to ride was way more fun! -- a quarter well spent, I'd say. Once in the store Alex has his heart set on a blue soccer ball. So, for under $2 I make his little heart happy. Then, we headed to McDs for lunch. While sitting at the table, enjoying our burgers, I ask Alex if he likes our new country and is happy here. He looks up at me and without skipping a beat he says, "Mommy, I have a cheeseburger and a blue soccer ball. I'm happy." Well...OK...I'll file that one away for a day he's miserable and hating life. I'll know just the cure! Then, I proceed to probe about his relationships with his siblings. Does he have any pent up anger or resentment that he's been wait for just the right time to reveal? So, I ask, "Alex, do you like Peter?" He furrows his brow and says, "Mommy, I miss Pedo. Yes, I love him. I love Mommy and Pedo and Vannah and Daddy." And, that was it for the deep conversations on our date.... The rest of our discussions revolved around what flavor of ice cream he wanted and holding on to that soccer ball!

On a different note, I went to visit a kindergarten for Savannah today. And, once again, I was told that they were too full and didn't have any space for us. I'm not sure what we're going to do at this point....One of our kids' favorite songs is "Remember" by the Gettys. It says: "Remember, God knows what you need. Remember, God knows what is best. Remember to follow Him first and He'll provide the rest." So, all that to say, I'm trying to "Remember" and trust Him to meet my sweet girl's need for language learning and friends. It seems to me that it would be met through a kindergarten, but maybe that is not His ultimate plan. We shall trust and see....