We were told that a person has to make thousands and thousands of mistakes in order to learn a language, so Aaron and I are wasting no time! We make all kinds of crazy mistakes! We also have several small victories that make us feel like we are getting somewhere.
Aaron recently had to take a trip out of town. He, a beginner language learner, went to the bus station and inquired about bus tickets. He successfully (if not accurately) explained what day he was leaving, found out when the right bus was going where he wanted to go, and found out how much it would cost. Those of you who have never learned a second language are waiting for my point. Those of you who have learned a second language know that I have already made my point. Point (for those who haven’t attempted a second language): Aaron is doing really well. It takes major guts to go out and do ordinary things when you have to use a language that you are only beginning to learn! Yay Aaron!
Today, I got a phone call from a telemarketer who only spoke Spanish. That was my first only-Spanish phone call. I missed a LOT of what he said, but I was so excited to be able to comprehend the little that I could. I know that most of you hate telemarketing calls, and that you may find talking to a telemarketer to be a waste of time, but it was great fun for me. It was a real challenge to muster enough vocabulary to tell him that we already have a long distance calling plan, and that I don’t want any more services added to my phone. I did it! I am sure his ears hurt afterwards from my bad Spanish, but I did it!
I also got some visitors today. I struggled to understand their big words and complicated grammar. They sounded so smart! When I wanted to give up on the conversation because it was too hard, they pressed me with further complicated questions and I again struggled to understand their advanced vocabulary. Oh, did I mention that they were only about 7 years old? Yeah. Humiliating.
We have been learning our numbers lately, so the other day Aaron tried to use his numbers at a gas station. He tried to say that he wanted 500 pesos worth of gas. He said he wanted, "quesientos." I don’t think that’s really a word, but "queso" is cheese and "-cientos" is a word part that signifies "hundred," so I decided "quesientos" means "cheese-hundred."
With all our victories and lack thereof, we sure are having fun. We are learning tons. Thanks for praying! Now you know how much we need it.
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