Language Learning (Again)
(Pictures: Grace with one of our two language helpers; Tom practicing with his voice recorder; Grace at the beach-our first time to the beach since we’ve been here!)
The first week of settling into our new home is also our first week of intensive language learning. Now we were learning language before, but in the midst of homestays and finding a house it was more haphazard and all at once. This week has been the first week of structured lessons with tutors, specific goals, and purposeful language walks. But before I tell you about what a “language day” looks like for us, I wanted to let you know that we have been very encouraged by how language has progressed so far. Having just done this process in Chad we were worried we wouldn’t have the same energy or motivation to start all over again. But it has been going well (partially thanks to the fact that unlike Chad we can find English-speaking language helpers).
Our language day… we welcome our language helper into our home, getting him/her something to drink and making some small talk in English. Then we tell him what we want to learn that day—“We have been on the island a month. We will be here for at least two years.” He thinks about the appropriate wording and tells us. We practice saying it multiple times with his correction. We write it down and then we record it on our voice recorders, one sentence at a time. Then we play a game, he tells us to do things in the local language and we try to obey (as much as we understand at least). He is a good teacher, so he pushes us and tests us with new vocabulary and different variations. After about an
hour we say goodbye.Then it’s time to study. We spend at least an hour, practicing our phrases. We listen over and over with our recorders and repeating the phrases until we can say them confidently. We take a break and see if we can still say them when we try again. Once we feel confident, the rain has stopped down pouring and Grace is up from her nap, we’re ready to walk. We’re supposed to try to spend at least 3 hours out talking with people in the local language. With Grace and for our own sanity this has been separated into a morning and an afternoon outing.
Over the week we have mapped out several routes that mainly take us up to the main market via a neighborhood and back via a different neighborhood. On our most recent language walk we were happy to see a friendly older couple sitting on their porch. We introduced ourselves and told them we wanted to learn their language. Then we used our two new phrases and answered their questions as best as possible. They enjoyed this so much, they called out their daughter and neighbors to meet us to and in one stop we talked to 8 people! Eventually we said goodbye letting them know we would walk by again soon to practice more language. As we kept walking we met a group of people gathered outside a neighborhood store, a grandmother with her grandchildren, a couple with their neighbor, men doing construction, a girl walking past, and an old man outside his home. We talked to all of them, and practiced our new phrases with most. Once at the market we talked to the people selling fruit, rice, onions and meat. Then we turned back toward home, going a different route, which meant meeting even more people. There is always a large group just up from our house where a large mango tree acts as a gathering place for the neighborhood. People sit and mingle throughout the day. Of course, we greet them with smiles and our phrases. They enjoyed hearing what we’ve learned and already we know many of their names. Finally we arrived back at our house. We greeted our connected neighbor, Mama Kotsi, and spent some time sitting with her and telling her what we learned that day. (Note* names are changed for privacy’s sake. Kotsi means ‘clap.’ She likes to get Grace clapping.)
At the end of the day we are supposed to reflect on how the language learning went that day. We are asked to estimate the time we spent doing the various steps and also how many people we talked to. Each day so far we have talked to over 50 people on our walks (the last day’s count was 115!). Don’t ask us to remember everyone’s names.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
The first week of language went well (even with lots of rain preventing walks). Grace has been happy and healthy this week! We enjoyed a time reflecting on Good Friday with our team and look forward to Easter Sunday service and lunch! He has risen indeed! We finally made it to the beach after a month on an island—it was nice to relax and Grace even liked the waves and sand.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
The island is having its first international marathon tomorrow (Sun) and we have been asked to help as impartial volunteers at the finish line. Pray that it goes well and that the rain holds off. Pray that we would continue to feel encouraged in language and that we would all stay healthy.
For those interested: These are lots of the things we have learned to say while we walk around…
Hello. How are you? How are your children? We are well. My name is ____. My spouse is _____. We have one daughter. Her name is Grace. Grace is 11 months old. I am ____ years old. I want to learn your language. I am learning, slowly. I only know your language a little bit. I can say… Did I say that right? We have been on the island one month. We will live here two years. We live over there. We are from America. Now we are studying your language. Later we will teach English. We like living here. The people are kind, the food is delicious and the country is beautiful. Tomorrow we will come back and speak in your language. Goodbye. Have a good day. See you tomorrow. See you another day. Thank you.
We’ve also learned two local proverbs that are a big hit with people and are applicable to language learning. “Slowly, slowly is not a handicap.” “Fast, fast is no blessing/gain.”
