English Class Translator

At our Waldorf school, among all the other unusual classes they have like Movement, Eurhythmia and Hand Work, they also have English class a few times a week. It must be quite a shock for Bryce and Laurel to not understand everything being said, and all of the sudden becoming experts in one class, but so be it.

I went to school today to give them some computer help, and rode back on the school bus sitting next to Laurel. She told me that she sits next to a first grader who speaks no English, and that today she was her translator in English class. Impressive sounding for sure. Thinking about it more, this makes sense, since Laurel's command of Spanish is probably beyond the level of English they are teaching to the Mexican kids.

As a parent, it's really hard to assess how much Spanish our kids are really learning, as kids can be prone to exaggerating or holding back in front of their parents. But I do see a lot of progress in little ways, such as being able to translate fortune cookies, letters from school, or Mexican TV shows. And it's only been nine weeks. But I'm hoping it will be like riding a bike, in that one day they all of the sudden just start speaking and conversing in Spanish naturally. I love seeing blond haired kids here speaking great Spanish with wonderful accents, and then flipping into English just as easily. Perhaps our kids will get there someday, but I have no idea what to expect. They are having fun at school, and we have at least nine more weeks here, so we'll just keep on doing what we're doing and see how it all turns out. Sue and I are having fun too.