An ear for languages

As Nate, Cori and the kids immerse themselves in the language of their field, it is interesting to see which of them has an ear for language. Having an ear for languages is more than amassing vocabulary words and conjugating verbs. It is the innate ability to imitate diction and inflection of the native speakers. It is an ability to connect root words to other root words and hear the flow of thoughts not through the words that are spoken but rather by how those words are spoken. Cori and Nate both seem to have that ability. For Nate, this is a third language, so his ear had been tuned to those subtilities long ago. Cori likes to dig into things and see the overlap of ideas and expressions. She, like Nate, loves to communicate. Both of them have been exposed to cultures and foreign mission fields throughout their lives. For the children, this is a first.

From what I am able to pick up so far, here is what I am seeing. Mykenzie loves to communicate but she is quiet and studious by nature so her path to mastering the language will probably be memorization – at least until she is moderately comfortable speaking. She may lack confidence for a while, but she will get it by working at it. I have not heard Grant speak and Spanish, but my thoughts are that he is a born communicator, a leader, a friend maker. He is probably more open to trial and error than his older sister and will learn by doing – mistakes and all. Blake, I imagine will be dragged along for some time, doggedly resistant until there is a real reason for him personally to learn the language. When that need is expressed in his life, he will master the language quickly. He is already immersed in it, so his mind is acclimating without him being aware of it. I can picture him authoring in both languages. Savanna, will be interesting to watch.

Savanna seems to have that intuitive ability to hear the language meaningfully. She is young and will use the same listening, imitating and verbalizing skills that all little ones use to communicate and build language. She is far ahead of most of her English speaking 3-year-old peers because she understands concepts – both through generalization and abstraction. For instance, Cori shared a text about the use of the Spanish expression (or word) verdad. In simple equivalent English, the word means “true”, but – as in English also - it is used to convey an expression of total agreement So true), of “I can go along with that thought but listen to this side of the argument” (true, but), of questioning the statement, just made (Is that true?), etc., depending on the inflection. What Savanna found in the word was the root word equivalent to her English knowledge base – dad. Everyone thought it was so funny when they would say “Verdad” Savanna would say “vermama”. She cannot read, so the spelling does not influence her cognition. She heard that. It made perfect sense to her to make the connection. I find that impressive. It will be interesting to see how she does with learning to read and write the language, but I will not be surprised if she is coaching Blake at some point in the future.

I set up a stereo in the shop over the weekend. I have had this stereo for a lot of years. If I remember correctly I bought it before Mama and I were married and have boxed it up for every move we have made. I have not had it in service for a couple decades, but I wanted to find it a home. In tuning the radio, I stumbled across multiple Spanish radio stations finally picking one to listen to while I am in the shop working. It is not the best way to immerse myself in the language, but it will get my ear acclimated to hearing the language in practice. As I worked for a few minutes last night I was able to understand most of the repartee between the DJs although I struggled to understand the lyrics to the songs. But I struggle with that in English.

It would be nice to have my ear tuned to the language before we go to visit Nate, Cori and the kids.