We all know that communication is key to sharing, to relationships, to work, to medicine…and how do we communicate? Language… Oh the challenges of language! Never did I think that I would ever learn French… but here we are speaking French and loving it. Dale will give his first sermon (ever) in French at the Malagasy chrch this Sunday! French is the official trade language here, used in schools, universities, hospitals and business. But, there is a local language that is spoken in the home, among the young and old, that is very different from French. This is the language that our team is learning. This is what we have been concentrating on since our arrival 4 months ago. It has been challenging and sometimes exhausting, but as we learn the local language, we also learn about the culture and community…
A typical morning greeting will go something like this:
-How are you?
-Well.
-My health is good.
-Okay, my health is good too.
-How are the children?
-The children are well.
-How is your husband?
-He is well.
-Have you woken up well?
-I have woken up.
-Good morning.
-Thank you! Good bye!
-Thank you!
(We have are first local language exams today!)
Dale and his language helper.
Grace and her language helper during “language concentration week”
Abigail, already 9 months old! She is pulling to stand, holding her own bottle, and feeding herself finger foods!! (She is wearing a shirt that her Uncle Josh got for her at the “patent office” from home)
Josiah reaching for a piece of cake during EED… last Friday.
Our little crew. Currently they are on vacation for two weeks from school. Dale and Mark have been doing remarkably well in their French school. Mark got an “A” for memorizing a poem (in French) and Dale has already memorized 2 poems (in French)!
“Have you woken up well?” “I have woken up.”
That’s my favorite greeting.
I’m glad to hear that you, Dale and the boys are excelling in French so smoothly. Amazing! I can imagine that the local language is much more difficult to get a grasp of, but I admire your efforts. I LOVE the photos. Abigail and the boys are growing so much! I was just looking through our photos from Disneyland back in 2009 and Dale and Mark were so tiny looking, compared to how big they are now. Miss you guys.
I absolutely LOVE Abigail’s “Patent Pending” shirt- awesome!!! Continued happiness to you all!
Ahhh! I had to come back to this website to look at the photos of the kids again. They are sooo sooooooo ooooo cute. I miss them so much! And I miss you and Big Dale too, of course. :)
Bonjour Dale et Grace,
merci pour les photos. C’est bon de vous voir, ainsi que votre famille. Abigail a tellement grandi! Déja 9 mois…. Vous semblez tous bien vous porter. Joshia semble toujours aimer autant le gâteau… :0)
Je suis toujours autant émerveillé de voir votre détermination pour apprendre le français, mais en plus du français vous vous attaquez maintenant à une langue locale. Vous avez beaucoup de courage et de détermination. Continuez votre beau travail vous voyez des fruits déja.
On vous aime beaucoup et vous nous manquez!!
Israël Geneviève et Raphaël