Language Learning as a Family

Over the last two years in Spain Dziu and I have been working hard to grow in our Spanish speaking abilities. This year Evelyn also entered the language learning world with us. Right now she is going to school 5 days a week (5 hours each day) completely in Spanish. Talk about immersion.

We were really worried for quite some time that this would be too much for her. But Evelyn has responded well and is comprehending and speaking Spanish. She is already correcting our word usage and pronounciation.

We are often weary from spanish classes and meetings or discussions that are exclusively in Spanish. It takes so much mental energy to listen and reply in a tongue that is not your own. We have made many strides and actually feel very comfortable now living and working in Spain. Still, it often wears us out. We can't imagine how Evelyn feels after a week of school.

Here in Granada people speak with a specific accent, called Andaluz, for the region we live in, Andalucia. For example, "adios" is Goodbye in Spanish, but here in Granada it is pronounced "adiooo." The vowel is elongated and the "s" is dropped. Evelyn usually says "Adiooo" and often corrects us when we say, "adios."

A Day in the Snowy Mountains

Just outside Granada sit the Sierra Nevada mountains, with Europe's most southerly ski station. One can see the mountains from most anywhere in Granada. Usually snow does not arrive in the mountains till late in November, but this year they got over 3 feet of snow in mid October. Evelyn and Garrick decided to make the drive up the mountain to the ski station to see the snow and have some fun. They had a great day shoveling snow, riding on a sled (or in Garrick's case, pulling a sled) and enjoying the beauty of snow capped mountains.