I'M FINALLY TAKING SPANISH LESSONS!!!!!
That's right. No more days of me laughing hysterically when I have absolutely no idea what the point of a Spanish joke was. (I don't really do that....often) I will no longer need to utilize the "mirroring" skill I've picked up since I've been living here either. 'What is mirroring?', you ask? Well, the family I live with only speaks Spanish. Most of the family members can however, piece together a few English words along with my broken Spanish and that is how we communicate. The grandma here is a different story. She has NO desire to learn English. Not only does she always speak in rapid fire Spanish, she is very sweet and holds long, endearing conversations with me everyday. The problem is, I have no idea what she is saying! (I have gotten alot better over time but it still takes me a little while to piece it all together). I don't want to disappoint her since she is always so excited to share her day with me so, I developed "mirroring." Basically, I mirror whatever her expression is. For example, if she is telling a story and is smiling, I smile back and at just the right moments exclaim, "Si!!!" or "Ahhh!!" and look equally excited. As the conversation progresses and her face becomes serious, I frown too and again at just the right moment, I issue a "Si" and shake my head like "what a shame." It sounds funny but we can have "conversations" for 20 or 30 minutes like this where she walks away happy to have had someone to share with and I walk away wondering what just happened. This has worked well the entire time I've been here except on one occasion when she asked me, "Verdad?" Which means "true" or "isn't that right?" To which I responded, "Si." But then she asked, "Really, when?" I paused and frantically tried to back pedal in my mind for any hint of what in the world she had just asked me. She just stared at me, patiently awaiting an answer. So, I said, "Oh, I think I misunderstood, I meant no." To which she replied, "Oh! why not?" and again stared at me. I don't even remember how I got out of that one but I do remember thinking, "I have GOT to learn Spanish at some point!" Sooooo.....back to my point, I am taking Spanish classes. I've tried all kinds of studying on my own, but I'm just not disciplined enough to consistently study alone. Fortunately, I went on a Bible study with a sister and the lady happened to mention that she teaches at a local school. I felt comfortable with her so I asked if she could help me. What's really great is that it's tailored specifically to help me with teaching in the ministry. She helps me with Bible terms and regular conversation. Also, I wanted help reading better so we practice with the "Bible Teach" book where I read then she has me answer the questions in my own words then we switch and she will answer questions and I have to determine what she is saying. Whenever she asks a personal Bible question, I give her a quick answer and let her know her Bible teacher will answer in detail. Then I give the sister a heads up on what she is going to ask. It's a win, win for everyone! With Jehovah's help, I hope to greatly improve in the next three months. I'll tell you why, soon :-)
That's right. No more days of me laughing hysterically when I have absolutely no idea what the point of a Spanish joke was. (I don't really do that....often) I will no longer need to utilize the "mirroring" skill I've picked up since I've been living here either. 'What is mirroring?', you ask? Well, the family I live with only speaks Spanish. Most of the family members can however, piece together a few English words along with my broken Spanish and that is how we communicate. The grandma here is a different story. She has NO desire to learn English. Not only does she always speak in rapid fire Spanish, she is very sweet and holds long, endearing conversations with me everyday. The problem is, I have no idea what she is saying! (I have gotten alot better over time but it still takes me a little while to piece it all together). I don't want to disappoint her since she is always so excited to share her day with me so, I developed "mirroring." Basically, I mirror whatever her expression is. For example, if she is telling a story and is smiling, I smile back and at just the right moments exclaim, "Si!!!" or "Ahhh!!" and look equally excited. As the conversation progresses and her face becomes serious, I frown too and again at just the right moment, I issue a "Si" and shake my head like "what a shame." It sounds funny but we can have "conversations" for 20 or 30 minutes like this where she walks away happy to have had someone to share with and I walk away wondering what just happened. This has worked well the entire time I've been here except on one occasion when she asked me, "Verdad?" Which means "true" or "isn't that right?" To which I responded, "Si." But then she asked, "Really, when?" I paused and frantically tried to back pedal in my mind for any hint of what in the world she had just asked me. She just stared at me, patiently awaiting an answer. So, I said, "Oh, I think I misunderstood, I meant no." To which she replied, "Oh! why not?" and again stared at me. I don't even remember how I got out of that one but I do remember thinking, "I have GOT to learn Spanish at some point!" Sooooo.....back to my point, I am taking Spanish classes. I've tried all kinds of studying on my own, but I'm just not disciplined enough to consistently study alone. Fortunately, I went on a Bible study with a sister and the lady happened to mention that she teaches at a local school. I felt comfortable with her so I asked if she could help me. What's really great is that it's tailored specifically to help me with teaching in the ministry. She helps me with Bible terms and regular conversation. Also, I wanted help reading better so we practice with the "Bible Teach" book where I read then she has me answer the questions in my own words then we switch and she will answer questions and I have to determine what she is saying. Whenever she asks a personal Bible question, I give her a quick answer and let her know her Bible teacher will answer in detail. Then I give the sister a heads up on what she is going to ask. It's a win, win for everyone! With Jehovah's help, I hope to greatly improve in the next three months. I'll tell you why, soon :-)
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