So, though, before and about

I find myself more and more comfortable with my second language on almost a daily basis. I am taking the above four words as evidence of this. When I am talking to my host parents, I ALWAYS say “so” and “though” in English! I know these words in Spanish; I am not sure where that knowledge gets lost in between my brain and my mouth, but I have a suspicion that it is behind my left molar. In the beginning, I pre-scripted everything before I said it. Now, I am doing that less and less, which is probably why “Spanglish” is being produced. I have taught my host family these two words in English so that my sentences don’t sound so much like this to them: “I don’t really think we’ll end up going to the park, whovilleopoly.” Or “Snoozlephone that is why the water was cold this morning!” They are so incredibly patient with me, though, and are VERY helpful with pronunciation. How funny I must look to outsiders when I am at a clothing store with my host mom saying “Jer-sey. Jer-sey. Jersey!” over and over again as she coaches me through it!

Now, this problem does not limit itself to the Spanish language. If I am speaking a sentence in English to one of the other students, I seem to always say “before” and “about” in Spanish. Friends, I apologize in advance for the craziness that I will likely speak on returning! Hopefully my ability to communicate effectively is not impaired too much…! If so, we can try charades. I am a fan.

Also on the language note, I was able to understand probably about 85% of Toy Story 3! This is such a God thing – He has held my hand through this language learning process in a way that made it seem much less like pulling teeth! And, as evidence, I have the comprehension ability of the small children that the movie was targeted for! It was so cute—I HIGHLY recommend it. If not seeing in 3-D is an option, I’d vote for that because the 3-D part was not worth paying extra money for (here it is only in 3-D, though). There was a little kid sitting behind me who will make a great sports commentator one day. Normally, this probably would have been irritating, but it was actually quite helpful. If I didn’t understand what had just happened completely, or if I didn’t know the word to refer to some object in the scene, there was a good chance that he would say it and I would have a second chance to catch it!

That is all from this language-scrambled part of the world for the moment! I hope that you are all having a lovely day, and once again, thank you for your prayers. He’s holding me so close here, and I know I have amazing family and friends who are laying me before Him regularly.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Pensando en ti,
Costa Rica Chica