Monday, March 19, 2007

Nap, Spanish, a delicate problem.

Well...the sea is pretty rough right now and there is the most spectacular line of big black clouds that past noisily through town and have headed off for Africa. The sun is shining again. The dog is on the balcony off the kitchen staring at the guys who live downstairs who are out on their porch, and I am off to work soon.

I have been posed a slightly delicate problem, one of the Mother's at the kid's school has a sister who wants some language lessons, primarily spoken...but they don't want to go through the language school. This is too small a town for more than one set up, and I would definitely be stepping on the boss's toes if I did it. I will most likely do it for free because I think it is pretty short term. They can cook for me in exchange or something...

I will however make sure that the boss is fully aware of the situation. Ho hum.

Had a nice long nap...as advised by Beth which was quite lovely, and I talked to the school about the fact that the eldest is not doing any Castillian at all. She is attending the classes, but they are grammar lessons for people who are speakers, and she gets nothing out of it. The press is that the year after next she has to switch schools and go to the high school. Half of the classes are in Castillian there, so there is a wee bit of pressure to get her Castillian going as well. The school is focusing on Catalan, and there is no question that it will be easier once she has that down, but lets not kid around here, she is not going to have fluent reading and writing in it, and if she also cannot speak Castillian at all, it will really be a disadvantage. I have offered to look for work books from the States that are in English, and she could do them at school during the Castillian class....we'll see.

Gotta work tonight so this is short as I am running out of time.

Have a great evening everyone!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's so amazing to think of how global we all are...your line about clouds headed off to Africa makes me think of when we were in Barbados the dust apparently comes from the Sahara. Or so we were told.

The language lessons?...eek. Awkward.

Beth said...

So your eldest has approximately a year and a half to master these languages before high school? Is she nervous? I would be.
Are there any English language high schools? I know that would be a cop out, but still...
Glad to hear you napped - rest as much as you can until the symptoms are gone.

Jocelyn said...

Ah, your poor daughter. I hate those academic situations that are so hollow--and end up making the student feel lost and dumb, for no good reason.

Angel said...

I love you Oreneta....just thought I'd tell ya that!

Undercover Mother said...

Viva la barter! I do it constantly here. I trade watching kids for a myriad of things, I trade kids' clothing and used books when we're done with them, and hubby trades computer expertise. We've gotten some great things/services in return!!! On that level, I say go for it.

No CSL (Castillian as a Second Language) classes? You would think if they truly wanted the language to be spoken well and preserved, they would. Too bad you couldn't trade English tutoring for Castillian grammar for your daughter????

Unknown said...

Nap ... I wish they'd give us nap time at work. I could have used it this afternoon believe you me.

oreneta said...

Trish: A lot of the dust does come from the Sahara, cruisers in mid-Atlantic get positively gritty sometimes from the sand landing...

Beth: There is an English language high-school in Barcelona, but it is vastly expensive, far away, and totally defeats the purpose in our coming here. It is going to be hard on her, I only hope she doesn't suffer academically. Or get bullied mercilessly, but what mother doesn't wish that.

Jocelyn: It is all a challenge, we work at keeping communication open which goes a long way.

Beth: Well, thank you very much, and I love ya right back! You do have a fantastic blog.

Mof3: I totally agree with you about trades, this one just feels, well, extremely one-sided right now...read the next post if you want, I go into more detail. The other thing is that Castillian is Spanish, it is in no danger of fading, and for all sorts of historical and political reasons, they are reluctant to push it here. Catalan is the one that is in danger of disappearing, and there is NO SHORTAGE of assistance with that.

DD: I LOVE to nap, and apparently some big companies are realising that their workers actually produce more and more happily if they have a nap, and are providing space for this...not just for the exec's with a couch and a door they can close.

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