Hello. Bonjour. Hola.
A lot of time around our house has been spent learning recently. Both girls are of course doing their high school work. In addition to that, they are both taking a language course at the local college. Miracle is learning French in class. Angelica is learning ASL.
At home in the evenings we are also learning Spanish. Monday through Friday, the girls watch Busy Bee (age 2) and Doc McStuffins (age 7) from 2 until 12. When the girls first began coming to our house Busy Bee knew no English. She spent the first hour and a half each day pointing to things saying, "Y esta?" and I would answer in English. Things were a bit easier once Doc got in from school but there was still some struggle for her on English words as well. Busy Bee has learned quite a bit of English, we have learned quite a bit of Spanish, and all in all we are communicating well now. Most things come out of our mouths in Spanish, then English, then often with a spattering of sign language thrown in when we are talking to the little ones. Angelica is doing the best at picking up Spanish.
In addition to Busy Bee and Doc, the girls watch Baby Girl (age 1) a few days a week. While she is here both she and Busy Bee are learning to share and use words to express their needs. Baby Girl's mother is autistic so we worked primarily on learning to recognize and express emotion. Words cannot convey how excited the girls and I were the first time Baby Girl squealed in delight.(#7)
We have also realized that in addition to learning language, we need to understand culture. When Busy Bee and Doc first started coming, Doc would phrase everything as a statement rather than a question. For example she might say, "I can't have that" rather than "Can I have that?" Written out it appears to be a statement, but her inflection almost always sounded like a question. We had to teach her that in English you actually have to ask the question. Several months later, we realized that stating questions was a cultural norm for her.
Doc is doing much better in school since coming to our house.(#8) At the beginning of the year, she went to her ELL class several times a week. I haven't seen ELL homework in over a month! That means she has a much better grasp on the English language. She has also improved in math, spelling, and reading.
So it seems we have all been learning. My girls and I are learning Spanish. Miracle and Angelica are learning another language as well. Busy Bee is learning English and how to share. Doc is learning so many things. Baby Girl is learning to use language and express emotion.
What have you learned lately?
