teisipäev, mai 03, 2005
Estonian Class
Last night we began our first Estonian language class together. The idea began when Evelyn and I contacted the teacher from my summer course, Tiina, about doing a class for us. We got along so well with her this summer that we thought she was the perfect person for this. Fortunately, she was willing.
We knew that there were several people who had moved here recently who spoke English as their first language, so we decided to open the class up to the people we knew. We had an overwhelming response. Last night we had 13 (including me, Evelyn and Chris)! We came from all over: America, Ireland, England, Australia and Romania (okay, he's not a native English speaker, but he still fit in). All of us are around the same level of understanding, which is small. So it was encouraging, when Tiina asked each person to say something in Estonian, to hear others struggle the same way I do. I think we will learn as much from each other as from the class.
Today when I went to get the snow tires taken off of my van and regular tires put on, I was reminded of just how much I need to have at least a basic grasp of Estonian. The guy at the garage spoke no English, but I was able to say enough words and point to indicate what I wanted. He then spoke to me again, but I didn't know what he was saying and felt like it might be important. I called my friend Kerli to speak with him, and when I got back on the phone with her she told me that he was asking me to bring the van inside and wait. I felt so silly. So pray that I learn soon, or I will be an endless source of entertainment for the folks here!
--Tim
We knew that there were several people who had moved here recently who spoke English as their first language, so we decided to open the class up to the people we knew. We had an overwhelming response. Last night we had 13 (including me, Evelyn and Chris)! We came from all over: America, Ireland, England, Australia and Romania (okay, he's not a native English speaker, but he still fit in). All of us are around the same level of understanding, which is small. So it was encouraging, when Tiina asked each person to say something in Estonian, to hear others struggle the same way I do. I think we will learn as much from each other as from the class.
Today when I went to get the snow tires taken off of my van and regular tires put on, I was reminded of just how much I need to have at least a basic grasp of Estonian. The guy at the garage spoke no English, but I was able to say enough words and point to indicate what I wanted. He then spoke to me again, but I didn't know what he was saying and felt like it might be important. I called my friend Kerli to speak with him, and when I got back on the phone with her she told me that he was asking me to bring the van inside and wait. I felt so silly. So pray that I learn soon, or I will be an endless source of entertainment for the folks here!
--Tim
