Hola! Que tal? Donde esta el mark that goes over the 'e' on que en la computadora?
I've been trying to relearn and learn more Spanish now for over two years. The Spanish for Educator's book was dusted off again last night - it's time to try again. The problem lies in my confidence in speaking it. It wasn't always that way. In the factory, Claudia and I held extensive conversations throughout the day completely in Spanish, though my part of the discussion was never eloquent as the verbs were sometimes not conjugated. I was great at that caveman Spanish, but that was more than ten years ago.
Italian is another language I have wanted to learn. I placed it as a reward for learning Spanish - "when I learn Spanish, I will then allow myself to learn Italian" - which of course has been quite the quest. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just study both of them simultaneously. They are similar, and it wouldn't hurt in comprehension and getting ideas across in either language.
I have noticed that there have been a large and increasing population of readers in Germany and Russia over the last year. The numbers are quite surprising. I hate to confess that I don't speak German or Russian, despite my one semester of German early in college. Everything at home was labeled with stickers of German vocabulary. They can still be found randomly at my parent's house, at least last I knew the reusable cheese container said "der Kase" and my mother insisted that it stay on there. It has become a sentimental artifact.
The Internet is a crazy place where we can translate words with a click of button and presto! No language barrier (although slang can be a bit difficult). Borders and distance suddenly seem smaller, and anyone can begin to have a conversation with anyone in the world. That's amazing! Something that I usually take for granted, but it is truly amazing! I don't think that I could have ever seen this as a possibility when I was a child. I thought ET landing in my backyard would be more of a possibility than this. haha
I am writing this at a time when it seems that North Korea is getting closer to doing something awful. I am worried for one of my mentor professors who moved back home to South Korea shortly after I graduated. It was sad seeing her go, but she was excited to go back home in order to teach alongside her mentor. We have lost touch with each other, and I hope she is doing well. I miss her terribly to tell you the truth - she was a great professor and friend who was one of the kindest and most peaceful souls I have ever met. She was particularly compassionate, empathetic and an animal lover.
Upon our last meeting while I was student teaching, we talked with each other about our philosophies of life. It was not a traditional conversation that one would have about what went wrong or right during the lesson that was taught to a rambunctious group of 7th graders, and I'm so glad that it wasn't. It was much more meaningful. At the end of the conversation, she told me that we were like salmon that swim up the stream. We have to work very hard to hold our ground in trying to make things better. One cannot give up even if it looks impossible. The minute we stop, we will lose our progress. We have to keep trying in the hope that we can make it further and be successful in making life better - making the world better by doing our part. My mantra became "be the fish" that day, and I utter it to myself often as a reminder to push forward, despite my shortcomings or struggles.
So I will be practicing on a shortcoming yet this evening - practicing the good ol' Spanish. Love to all, whether you are reading this in English, Russian, German, French or Arabic, and thank you for reading.
Be the fish!
Italian is another language I have wanted to learn. I placed it as a reward for learning Spanish - "when I learn Spanish, I will then allow myself to learn Italian" - which of course has been quite the quest. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just study both of them simultaneously. They are similar, and it wouldn't hurt in comprehension and getting ideas across in either language.
I have noticed that there have been a large and increasing population of readers in Germany and Russia over the last year. The numbers are quite surprising. I hate to confess that I don't speak German or Russian, despite my one semester of German early in college. Everything at home was labeled with stickers of German vocabulary. They can still be found randomly at my parent's house, at least last I knew the reusable cheese container said "der Kase" and my mother insisted that it stay on there. It has become a sentimental artifact.
The Internet is a crazy place where we can translate words with a click of button and presto! No language barrier (although slang can be a bit difficult). Borders and distance suddenly seem smaller, and anyone can begin to have a conversation with anyone in the world. That's amazing! Something that I usually take for granted, but it is truly amazing! I don't think that I could have ever seen this as a possibility when I was a child. I thought ET landing in my backyard would be more of a possibility than this. haha
I am writing this at a time when it seems that North Korea is getting closer to doing something awful. I am worried for one of my mentor professors who moved back home to South Korea shortly after I graduated. It was sad seeing her go, but she was excited to go back home in order to teach alongside her mentor. We have lost touch with each other, and I hope she is doing well. I miss her terribly to tell you the truth - she was a great professor and friend who was one of the kindest and most peaceful souls I have ever met. She was particularly compassionate, empathetic and an animal lover.
Upon our last meeting while I was student teaching, we talked with each other about our philosophies of life. It was not a traditional conversation that one would have about what went wrong or right during the lesson that was taught to a rambunctious group of 7th graders, and I'm so glad that it wasn't. It was much more meaningful. At the end of the conversation, she told me that we were like salmon that swim up the stream. We have to work very hard to hold our ground in trying to make things better. One cannot give up even if it looks impossible. The minute we stop, we will lose our progress. We have to keep trying in the hope that we can make it further and be successful in making life better - making the world better by doing our part. My mantra became "be the fish" that day, and I utter it to myself often as a reminder to push forward, despite my shortcomings or struggles.
So I will be practicing on a shortcoming yet this evening - practicing the good ol' Spanish. Love to all, whether you are reading this in English, Russian, German, French or Arabic, and thank you for reading.
Be the fish!
3 comments:
If you want someone to speak Spanish with, my oldest daughter would love that. She's currently in Spanish 3, has plans to take Spanish 4 next year and wants to go to college to become a Spanish translator!
I too enjoy seeing readers from different parts of the globe. For about a year I had a faithful reader in Denmark. Now I get excited seeing viewers from the Ukraine or Saudi Arabia. My Russian readers, it turns out, are mostly former students in Afghanistan. Their server is in Russia.
Amber, that's fantastic that your daughter may have already found her passion! I may take you up on that offer - it would be so fun to conversate in Spanish with her!
Jan, that touches my heart that your former students read your blog while they are so far away. That's so wonderful and really says so much about what a deep connection you and your students share. How beautiful and so cool!
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