Comments on: Skipping Rope

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:01:08 +0000

This reminds me to go thank my high school Spanish teacher. I hated that class in high school, and now I am so grateful for it. Now I can read about giraffes and where they live and how friendly they are! But I’ll admit, if you had read it outloud, I would have had no idea what you were talking about.

By: GreenJello

GreenJello — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:22:18 +0000

She’s more proficient in Spanish than I am, and I’ve taken over a year of Spanish lately. Argh. I have a LONG way to go! Tell her she’s my hero. :)

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:02:30 +0000

My parents spoke French at home to each other and perfect British/Canadian English to us as children. There were to be no punctuation or grammatical errors at our house. My father also signed proficiently and practiced as he watched the news. We took Spanish in our childhood school about once a week for 30 minutes. I know no Spanish. When I was 16 we moved to Cleveland, Ohio where French proficiency was required for graduation. I got by with hours of study and by the skin of my teeth.
I think it is crucial for people to learn more than one language and I like this immersion education idea/I think they are doing that in Canada too? How lucky your children are to be able to have this experience.
Where we live now should have an Asian language requirement/option.
Exciting stuff….it will come (says I with no gift for language or math)

By: Randi

Randi — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:45:06 +0000

I really wish we had a dual immersion program where I live. I think it is fantastic to give children that opportunity. Other countries insist their children learn at least one other language and I think we should too.

Back in my single days I dated a man who was from Mexico. Learning English was required in his high school, but he learned it as British English, not American English. He learned it with the British accent and all. Coupled with his Mexican accent he was a little hard to understand at times.

Like Lori, I took Spanish in high school, but we did not converse with native speakers so I have a hard time following a conversation. It’s easier for me to read than to speak. I think it is such a blessing to have little Mia in an environment where she is immersed (excellent term) in the language, learning its nuances.

She did an excellent job on her giraffe report!

By: Melinda

Melinda — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:36:27 +0000

Wow, how beautiful! I know you’ll cherish that note forever! I have tears in my eyes reading that Cindy.

And no, I can’t translate that para! I understood the Jirafas and thata is all! LOL!

By: DWongster

DWongster — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:24:34 +0000

Very inspiring!

Reminds me we can do more to speak Chinese (Cantonese) to the kids at home. They certainly understand when their mother and I converse “secretly”, at least 80% of it!

By: BloggerDad

BloggerDad — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:00:36 +0000

Lovely post! I love Mia’s note! I would love to enter my son into a program like that, but I’m pretty sure nothing like that exists here.

And for record, no I couldn’t translate that block of text without the help of Google and perhaps a sherpa.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:54:48 +0000

Janice: Immersion. It is a pretty word isn’t it? Thank you for sharing experiences and tips. Your words of encouragement and experiences gave my reset button just what it needed. Greek. How amazing is that? I moved to Taipei, Taiwan and taught English in a Chinese kindergarten for a year. I could not read anything and experienced a world the polar opposite of what I knew. I was illiterate, but adaptable. I learned a manageable amount of Mandarin, but missed my bus 13 times the first day of work because I could not decipher Chinese characters fast enough. I asked questions and tried to speak English to the younger students taking the bus because I knew they had to study English and had a working foundation. However, what I did not know about the Chinese culture was… no one speaks unless they can construct their words perfectly. Sigh! I memorized the characters for the bus I needed to get to a rural area to teach English. Necessity, immersion, joyful learning at its best. This was also BC (before children and single). My motivation to master Spanish is greater and immersion within my family indeed will be the key to unlock the brain. Thank you for helping me recalibrate.
Nameste.

Lori: I completely understand your sentiment and desire to connect with people in their first language. Cognitively, I know if I practice something 100,000 times I will internalize the information. Processes like language, music, writing …all require the practice time. Hopefully your travels will take you to a destination that will allow you and your family time to immerse your life into the culture so the opportunity to practice gives you the wings to skip rope and connect with a friend in their first language. Let’s make our dreams happen. I know it is on my “must do” list in this life. Thank you for sharing your story and good on you for understanding Mia’s words. Celebrate your ability to retain another language!
Nameste

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:46:12 +0000

I took three years of high school Spanish, so I can catch the drift of most of what was written, but I sure wish I could have learned by immersion because I still don’t have an ear for the conversational back and forth. It’s wonderful you are giving your children this kind of opportunity to reach across cultures and connect in a special way. There were many times in my travels to Mexico and Guatemala and here locally that I wished I could sit down with someone and speak with them intelligently in their native tongue or first language.

By: janice

janice — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:38:10 +0000

Jirafas son amigables.
So are the whole Platt family! Loved this post, Cindy – you write beautifully! Your whole attitude to family life and parenting is total immersion – what better way to share your kids’ journey! You’ll master Spanish very soon, because you want to, you ache to. And Sean, Mia and Max will be your very best teachers for they’ll help you learn it via the soul. I fast tracked my Greek when I lived there by learning song lyrics; it opened up super highways between my right and left brain and made daily learning easier as I learned how to feel in Greek. My inner ear started singling out words and phrases as I immersed myself. If you haven’t heard any, give Mercedes Sousa’s CD’s a listen. Powerful, powerful stuff that made me learn Spanish bcause I longed to understand the lyrics.

Thank you for sharing Mia’s precious words of encouragement with us!