It is my third day in an Italian elementary school, and I still feel like crying. The teacher seems to understand this, and brings over a little, staple-bound drawing book of graph paper. I take out my colored pencil set and draw a simple landscape. When I'm done, the teacher labels the details in Italian in the peculiar handwriting that I see in the students' notebooks as well. Using an Italian-English dictionary, I am able to communicate a little.
A few days later, I feel comfortable enough to join in round-robin reading. I can follow along, and read aloud well enough for the rest to understand, but I comprehend little of what is coming out of my mouth. The pictures in the textbooks help.
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In third grade, I went to an Italian school every morning during the spring semester. A bus would pick me up at lunchtime and take me back to Pinetamare Elementary, the DoDDS school down the street. I can't really remember what it was like to segue back and forth between those environments each day, but I do remember the feeling of isolation those first few mornings. I can truly empathize with ELL students.
The odd thing is that I never did pick up Italian. There I was, totally immersed for hours each week, and all I seemed to get from the experience is an ear for the accent. I lived in Germany later, spent quite a bit of time sightseeing with my family--and didn't learn to speak German.
These experiences haunt me today whenever I attempt to learn a another language. One of my goals this year is to learn Spanish, which I've tried before without success. Seems I first need to overcome the "I can't" mental block from my youthful language acquisition failures.
The above took up some space in my book. Not only did we have to get you the smock but also the backpack. On your last day you made the teacher cry. That was your enrichment program versus being advanced a year in elementary school. Thanks for the memories. Love Ya, Dad.
ReplyDeleteThank you. This was from the heart and anytime we share an experience that deeply touched us we enrich other's lives. You did that. You helped me understand the depth of feelings a child who doesn't speak English may feel.
ReplyDeleteAlso, this summer I'm going to Italy and Germany so you got my attention right there. Good luck with Spanish. You can do it! Mary