CLOMID, SHIN SPLINTS AND MORE POLYGLOTS

I’ve got the bug. No I’m not sick I’m just interested in people who can speak a gazillion languages. This last week I watched a Thai television program (with English subtitles) where Stuart Raj, a half Indian and half Australian man, talked about language learning and how he came to learn over fifteen languages. I don’t speak Thai but I’m sure his was very good. If you closed your eyes you would have a hard time telling which of the three people on the program wasn’t a native Thai speaker.

Anyhow, one of the things that Stuart said really struck a cord in me. He said that in order to learn a language he creates a community around him that will teach him that language. As an example of this he told the audience how he learned to speak fluent Danish without ever going to Denmark. As a boy growing up in Sydney he had several friends at school that were Scandinavian exchange students and as a result he became curious about their language. He went to the yellow pages and looked up a bunch of peoples’ names that looked as though they were Scandinavian: Mortensen, Petersen, Christiansen etc. He noticed that most of them lived in a specific neighborhood so the next day he took the bus and went to that neighborhood. He stopped at a store that sold Danish goods and then at a church that held services in Danish and told people about how he wanted to learn their language. After a month of studying on his own and going to church pot-lucks and other activities in the Danish community he could speak Danish fluently.

I got to thinking about my own language learning experiences and about my friend Ziad Fazah who learned his languages volunteering at travel agencies as a boy and studying different languages on the side. I then started to think about how I could create a community that would help me fine tune my spoken Portuguese. After only a little searching on the net I found the website www.polyglot-learn-language.com, which is a free way for people to communicate online and teach each other languages. After just two days I have chatted with people from Thailand, the USA, Brazil, Spain, Mexico and Turkey in all three of my languages and found people from Brazil who have agreed to talk with me over the internet through msn and skype. Just last night I chatted with Flavia who is from Campinas and she was a very good tutor. After speaking for a while in Portuguese Becca and I spoke with her in English for so that she could practice. My goal is to get my spoken Portuguese up to a very high level of fluency and then when we get back from Brazil I want to become fluent in French. After that I may feel gutsy enough to tackle something really tough like Arabic or Mandarin.

I know that this makes me a big nerd but that’s one of the things that I’ve been most excited about lately. My raggedy running shoes were giving me horrible shin splints so we had to buy me some real running shoes. I applied online to the CIA at the request of the recruiter from the OSC and that was a surreal experience. I suppose it’s a good sign that he asked me to apply; maybe he just forgot to tell me to do it before. They will also mail me a translation test to see how well I can translate into English from Portuguese. Hopefully good test scores in two languages will make me a more competitive job candidate. I got a C on my science test a week an a half ago which I think was probably a rather good grade to get on a test like that. I hate classes that make a C a good grade, a D a descent grade and an A impossible. I also taught the men during the third hour of church today. Okay, that was pretty much my week and what’s new with me. Stick around for the lovely Becca.

Well, where to begin? As you know, for over a year now we have been wanting to have our family grow. It has been quite the cause of stress…particularly for me since my body wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. This can be very depressing, and I have had my battles to overcome because of it. Unexpectedly, and to my surprise and joy…the doctors finally put me on Clomid!!!!!!!! YAY!!! I wanted them to do that about 8 months ago, but had to wait. I have been overwhelmingly happy at the idea of a baby coming soon, and with it being highly likely that it could be more than one. This may scare some of you, but be assured that Ryan and I have talked about it. Hopefully this will help a baby to be on the way within the year! I want twins. I know, I’m crazy…but I really want them! Ryan is excited with the idea as well. I know that we as parents can do it, and that is all that matters. It would be difficult, yes, but not impossible…it would be a trial, but one with lots of blessings. And it is those blessings of which I look toward. Motherhood is something that I have always longed for, and something I know I will love. I am truly ecstatic! So that’s that.

Other than that, life has been pretty normal. I found some great deals at the D.I. (Deseret Industries) again: a Nine West beige 100% leather skirt and a Banana Republic skirt which are both long enough, and in great condition. I love finding really nice things at D.I.!!! It takes searching and failing to find things sometimes…but when you do find something, it is great!

We just got back from a lovely dinner up in Bountiful with my Aunt Emma. We carpooled with my cousin, Alicia. Being with family is always nice. I am glad that we have some relatives around.

Well, it is time to wind down for the night. We hope everyone has a wonderful week!