Responding to Questions #1

A short time ago, we posted We're All Ears to ask you, the reader, to send questions that you have about our family and/or ministry.

Becky wrote...

I was wondering how they [the children] do at interacting with all the Spanish speaking children and adults? Do they try to speak some, do they get frustrated, are they picking up quickly?

Answer:

- Overall it seems like the process of learning Spanish is going slow for Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee. From week to week there isn't noticeable outward signs that they are advancing by leaps and bounds. But after studying some language learning techniques and methods, I can guarantee that all three are soaking in the new sounds. One of their favorite pastimes is watching cartoons in Spanish.

-Interaction with adults depends on the kid's general disposition for that day. We have been working through a book called "Manners Matter" and the chapter on greeting others (shaking hands, looking others in the eye, and speaking when spoken to). Here in Chile, there is an added element of "fake kissing" someone on the cheek when you greet them.

All three children know how to verbally greet people (Hola...¿como está?...bien). They get tons of practice with this at church, since everybody greets everybody every service. Many adults try to use their extremely anemic English on them (like...Good morning or how are you?, ect.). Their SS teacher gets a little frustrated that she can't completely communicate with them during the lesson time. The kids don't care, they are just happy to be with the class. They are making some new friends, but sometimes, they do mention that they miss their friends in Texas and Minnesota.

Of course, there are times when they want other people to just go away. Like when we are at the mall, or a store in town, people will just come up and say "Look at those blue eyes!" or "You look just like your dad (or mom)". I'm sure that the kids sometimes must feel like, "Who are these people? and "Why are they touching or pointing at me?".

-Interaction with children and teens is fun for the kids, due to the fact that language isn't a big mental hangup for them. They enjoy playing ping-pong with the teens after church. The teens are always hitting up the kids to teach them a new word in English. Several of the girls have taken a special liking to Kaylee. As a matter of fact, we think their attendance in church meetings has risen since we've arrived in Temuco. Kaylee gets carried and passed around immediately after every service.

Kaylee was singing a short phrase of a song to us the other day. It was in English and it was a song we didn't know, nor teach her. Come to find out, a teen at church was teaching her an English pop song...good grief!

-Ben is the best at sheer effort. He tries words here and there, even if we are at home.

-As for if they get frustrated...occasionally yes, but normally, they just shake it off.

For example, I asked Jordan and Ben to tell me what they learned and did at SS class while at the dinner table.
They looked at me and said, "I have no clue what my teacher said to me!".
I replied with, "Well, did you have fun?".
"Oh yeah, we colored and made a craft.", they answered.
To them, at this point, it's all fun and games.

-As parents, and especially with Kristi's MK background, we know that they will pick up Spanish as well as maintain their English throughout their childhood. We are not worried about rushing them, nor holding them back. It will come in due time...now, if only I could learn Spanish like a child!

Come back again to hear the answer to Keith's multi-layered question. Also, it's not to late to submit your question (hint hint... AMC, and others).