Many of you have been asking us how our language studies are going; how we are learning language; what the kids are doing. Well, there is a long answer, but I will try to make it short.
We are all doing well. Of course, we are tired and frustrated at times, but I think we are making progress. "yavas, yavas" they say...."slowly, slowly" We are taking one day at a time.
We are not in a traditional class/learning program. We are doing something called the Growing Participators Approach. It is a little like the Barefoot Approach in that a person is immersed in the language, but it is not totally student lead like Barefoot. We have a language coach and a language nurturer. The coach speaks English and the native language. He directs the sessions and lessons. He is only with us 1-2 days a week, but gives the nurturer a copy of our lessons in the native language and us a copy in English. Our nurturer is a native speaker only. He is in our home for 4 hours every morning. (5 days a week)
This approach looks at language from the perspective of how a person naturally learns language: Listen and Respond; Verbally Respond; Read Language; Write Language. There are 6 phases to the program. It will take us from a year and a half to two years to make it through the program. This first phase is only 6 weeks and the focus is cramming in vocabulary. (grammar, etc. are thrown in, but not the focus) We are also learning culture along with language. This is a HUGE part of living in a country and key to developing relationships.
Most days, several times a day, we play a game called "The Dirty Dozen" introducing new vocabulary. The nurturer puts an object/picture on the table and says the name. The students have to point to the object when it is called. We are given 12-25 things in each session. We record the vocabulary/games and parts of the sessions so that we can review later. Verbs are introduced along the way and we are given instructions with the new nouns....put the corn on the table; put the eggplant on the floor; hold the apple; squeeze the fork; where is the grandmother....etc. etc.
I uploaded a random video of one of our sessions. It is not really a fun video because I cannot upload large files, and I also cannot show faces of people outside of our family. However, it will allow you to hear the language and get a feel for some of the instruction.
The kids are doing great. They have their moments like everyone else, but it is a great approach for them because it is interactive. They are not required to "be at the table" with us all the time. They are listening on the couches while they play with blocks/look at books, etc. However, the adults are heading to the next phase, so please pray that we are able to find a nurturer for the kids ASAP. Children need to move more slowly through phase one depending on their age...more like 6 months for our kids. We would like someone to come to our home at the same time as our lessons so that our family is still learning together and able to move through all the rest of the things that have to be accomplished in a day. (math lessons, English/language arts, cooking, cleaning, etc. etc. )
Well, God is good and where He calls He equips...RIGHT! Thank you for your prayers!! AT
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