Thoughts on learning a second language

Rob and I have now completed 3 days of language learning. Our brains are officially fried. When you are a baby and are learning to speak you sleep something like 15 hours of the day right? I now know why. These words swirling around you really make you tired. And they never go away. These sounds and words are everywhere....the TV, the sounds your neighbors above, below, and beside you make, when you go out of your house, go to a restaurant, Wal-Mart....EVERYWHERE. There is no pass/fail test at the end of the semester. Either you understand and contribute or you don't. Honestly, our mouths are very sore. There are certain sounds we don't make in English that must be learned here. We practice these and practice these. Whew!

At this point in our learning, Rob and I are studying together because we are just going through pronunciation lessons. Sometimes we just get tickled at the funny faces we are making when we speak and the sounds coming out of our mouths. The best is when one of us is struggling with a sound and our teacher keeps having us say it over and over.....but we can't tell if it is right or wrong. YIKES!! We have a great teacher and we really like her. Her husband will begin teaching Rob when we split up....hopefully next week. She said men and women are so different in their learning styles and speed. (women are faster and want to know as many words as possible while men use what they have) She said she and her husband teach differently as well.

I have to say a big THANK YOU!!! to my parents for all the musical training they gave me, to the music department at OBU for the sight singing and ear training class, the voice class, the diction class, and the countless hours of Dr. Clark's vocal training becase without all of this I would be totatlly lost learning this language! If I heard "place the sound at the front of your face" once I heard it a thousand times in college.....and now I am hearing it again, daily. I know what to do.....my husband....well, he was a telecom major. If he could make a video and edit it about this language......it would be awesome.

The positive is when you all come to visit us you will be amazed....shock and awed hopefully.....at our language abilities. Already, one month in we have learned and are using so much. The really funny part is that Hannah and Hudson are probably going to learn it as fast or faster than Rob and I who are in class every day. You see, while we are in class they are with our helper, who doesn't speak any English. They know as much as we do. We came home the other day and they had a board game out playing it with her. Amazing. Anything we say....they say.

By the way...pics of the new place are coming soon. Our couch is being recovered, and it should be finished in a day or so....then we will do the grand tour!