ESL Student

I have a great appreciation for learners of a foreign language. It is so challenging to know what you want to say, and can clearly form it in your head, but fall short when trying to articulate it.

I finished 3 years of Spanish in college, but still feel it's not sufficient enough to allow me to communicate,  anywhere publicly that is. I'm certain I would say something like the "pig doesn't have testicles" when I"m trying to ask for directions to a hospital.

I have the utmost respect for individuals who come to our country and enroll in English classes. It's not an easy language to learn, and yet it comes naturally to me. (Although I could use some extra work on spelling.)

So this brings me to the point of my blog post today...we have an ESL student living with us. He's about 3 feet tall, doesn't look remotely Hispanic, but has decided tonight at dinner to begin speaking in Spanish.

I heard him babbling, but figured he was singing his own song. When I finally clued in that Jack was asking for "agua" I realized I might need a refresher course in Spanish. I'm sure there must be a class, Communicating with your ESL Toddler, right? I started wondering how many more words I might have missed. If I had only paid closer attention in college. For all I know he could be fluent, and we're the ones who need to enroll in an SSL class.

Worse case scenario, maybe I can call our nanny and have her translate. Hmm... that probably won't work; I'm sure a call in the middle of night looking for el chupete isn't part of her job description. 

Nuestro pequeño niño crece! (Hopefully I didn't say anything about the pig!)