Forgotten Fluency
I took three years of Spanish in high school and three semesters in college. All that studying enabled me to read and converse pretty well. In fact, I actually got to the point where I was dreaming in Spanish.
However, most of that skill has been lost. I really had no one to speak with post-college so my abilities dwindled. It takes me a few days in Mexico to get a bit of understanding back. I do know more words than cerveza and bano but mostly I infer most of what I hear based on recognizing the key words.
Friday night, I discovered another language that I'm no longer literate in: Two Year Old.
The Rocket Scientist and I went to friends' for dinner and I spent some time chatting with their kids. Because I really love kids, especially when they're well behaved and go home with someone else.
Their two year old daughter was chatting away to me and it was just like Spanish. I caught words like "cowboy" and "baby" and "shoes" and "sleeping" but there was a lot more jumbled around those. I think I faked her out that I understood her though. Maybe she was just too polite to give me the "you're a complete idiot" look.
Fortunately, I'm still pretty good with Five Year Old language. In fact, their son thinks I'm brilliant because I knew where they went for Fourth of July (thanks to Facebook but that's our little secret) and because I can add 100 plus 100 and I can even add 4100 plus 100. Oh, I can count to 141.
If I only I could inspire a 35 year old guy to think I'm that clever and fascinating.
However, most of that skill has been lost. I really had no one to speak with post-college so my abilities dwindled. It takes me a few days in Mexico to get a bit of understanding back. I do know more words than cerveza and bano but mostly I infer most of what I hear based on recognizing the key words.
Friday night, I discovered another language that I'm no longer literate in: Two Year Old.
The Rocket Scientist and I went to friends' for dinner and I spent some time chatting with their kids. Because I really love kids, especially when they're well behaved and go home with someone else.
Their two year old daughter was chatting away to me and it was just like Spanish. I caught words like "cowboy" and "baby" and "shoes" and "sleeping" but there was a lot more jumbled around those. I think I faked her out that I understood her though. Maybe she was just too polite to give me the "you're a complete idiot" look.
Fortunately, I'm still pretty good with Five Year Old language. In fact, their son thinks I'm brilliant because I knew where they went for Fourth of July (thanks to Facebook but that's our little secret) and because I can add 100 plus 100 and I can even add 4100 plus 100. Oh, I can count to 141.
If I only I could inspire a 35 year old guy to think I'm that clever and fascinating.
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