You Ask, I Answer, Take 18

Today's You Ask, I Answer question comes from Johanna, who asked:

What languages do you speak, besides English?  What languages do you want to speak/learn, if you had the time/energy?

A very good question.

The answer to the first part is this:  I don't speak any languages other than English fluently.

As a product of the Canadian educational system, I have a very minimal command of French.  And by minimal, I mean that I can count to 49, say hello and goodbye, please and thank you, and recognize a few other words commonly found on signs or product labels (it's the law here- all product labels, and all signs in nationally governed areas such as national parks, are in both official languages.)

As a product of parents who spent time in South America, and two years of high school instruction, I also have a minimal command of Spanish.  In Spanish, I can basically say enough to communicate that I can't properly communicate.  I can understand a bit more than I can speak.  My Spanish is a bit better than my French, and while I wish I'd taken more in high school, I don't regret the decision to drop the language, given that the particular teacher was a fan of teaching via embarrassing her students, and after having been at her mercy in one year, (I had a wonderful teacher my first year), I was unwilling to allow that to continue!  Interestingly, a close friend of mine speaks Spanish as her first language and other friends speak quite fluently as their second language, so if I can just increase my vocabulary a bit, I'll have numerous people to practice with!

The answer to the second part of the question is a bit more complex!  I love language, and would love to devote some time to learning more.  I would most definitely begin with Spanish, since it's a language that I absolutely love, and that is spoken in many of the parts of the world that I'd love to travel to.  I would probably avoid any tonal languages (so most Asian languages are probably out) since I'm rather tone deaf and know I would struggle with them.  I'm fascinated by Hebrew, by Arabic, and others.  Italian, being closely related to Spanish, is also an enticing option.  I have friends who speak German, and I think that might be fun to learn someday.  I'm sort of of the opinion that any language you can add to your repertoire very much broadens your horizons and perspectives, and creates space within you for new things, so I definitely think that language is a worthy thing to tackle, and most definitely plan to turn my attention to Spanish in the near future!

Spanish Sewing

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with A, and baby N.

A. is from South America, has been a good friend for probably close to ten years now, and we had a great time together, laughing and catching up on the last month or so of each others lives, talking about where God is working, and enjoying the chance to sit and eat together.

I'd asked her a while ago if she would teach me to sew, since her mom is a fashion designer and A has been sewing since she was a really small child.  I frequently compliment her on a piece of clothing she's wearing and she'll say, "oh, I made it!"  In the past we've laughed over the fact that because she learned to sew while still living in South America, she doesn't know the English terms for many sewing implements, and only knows them by their Spanish names!  We talked about how if she taught me to sew, she'd have to help me with my quest to learn Spanish at the same time.

Today we talked about it again, and ended up in a fabric shop.  I hit a sale, and bought fabric and thread to make two simple skirts under A's direction for only $15!

We then contemplated when we'd get together to sew, and she decided she'd simply return today!

We've long taken time to pray together when we gather, so this afternoon we're going to cuddle baby N, and spend time sewing in Spanish and praying in English!  I'm quite looking forward to it!  So few of the friends that I can share intimate times of prayer, and truly enjoy sharing life with live locally, so to get time with a friend like A, and her daughter two days in a row, and to get to learn a bit of a new language and a new skill, and spend time talking together with Jesus is truly a blessing for me, and one I can't wait to enjoy!

(For those of you who are regulars, watch this space later this morning for the first installment of me answering your questions!)

Good Intentions

I had really great intentions of getting some much thought about pieces of writing accomplished today, but they were waylaid with people stuff.

I had coffee with one of my youth girls this morning. She leaves bright and early tomorrow morning for Germany to go to Bible school for the next year. It was great to have a chance to hear her heart and pray for her as she goes.

While I was still with her, another friend, with whom I've been trying to reconnect for several months called me and wanted to know if I was free today. I immediately accepted the invitation and we spent the afternoon doing some errands together and catching up on everything that's happened in each other's lives in the year since we were last together at her wedding. So special, and we parted with promises to see each other much more frequently in the coming year. She's also fluent in Spanish, and has promised to email me a translation of the Lord's prayer. I learned to pray the Lord's prayer in Spanish in high school, and have done so often in the intervening years, but somewhere along the way lost my printed copy of it, and forgot the last half of the prayer. I'm rather delighted to know that the remainder of the prayer will be arriving in my inbox shortly!

I need to go prep for Sunday school tomorrow morning, so that's it for tonight. Tomorrow I'm hoping to accomplish the writing and other things that didn't get done today.

I'm dreaming of really fun and deep and beautiful things these days. I feel like life has been reawakened in me in the last couple weeks. Someday soon I'll share those things!