Language Learning

I joined Duolingo about ten years ago but never really messed with it. Then when my husband was working out of state for two years, I got serious about learning languages. It was my way to wind down.

Being in charge of my two boys without any help was difficult. My older boy was in marching band and I was stretched thin running around trying to get his commitments accomplished. We got sick, my kids have boyscouts, church and school. My older boy, the one in marching band, was also in JROTC. That all rolled up with doctor appointments, orthodontist appointments, doing all the shopping during covid… I was exhausted but also really tense. Language helped me unwind.

I have studied French, Indonesian, German, Hawaiian, Russian, Hindi and Chinese. Probably in that order as far as actual time spent on those languages. I find learning languages meditative. Some of these languages were really difficult for me. Especially Hawaiian, Indonesian and Hindi. Some languages do not fit logically with English, with the rules of the two languages at odds. Some I have no idea how to read its symbols and have never heard it spoken. Some use five or six words for the same thing (that was Indonesian BTW.) I have found sticking with a romance language (or Latin based. I took Latin in 7th and 8th grade. I think that’s what ignited my passion for language.) was the least stressful and most enjoyable, at least for the results I was looking for.

I have a best friend who grew up in Southern India, near Hyderabad. Learning a little Hindi helped me understand the commitment that was required for her to move to America, work in America for several decades and become an American citizen. I have incredible respect for her. I don’t think I could have done that. She inspires me and I am in awe of her accomplishments.

This year I studied Indonesian because we sponsored a child in Indonesia.

Russian sounds like a romance language (I can understand basic words by sound) but has a totally different alphabet.

German was so close to English that I had a hard time staying motivated to learn the language.

French is my original secondary language. I studied it in high school and college. I studied abroad in France, when I was in high school. I also studied in Quebec. I love French, but despite the time I have put into it: I am way better at reading it than speaking or listening. I spend about five minutes a day working on having a better understanding of language in general. There is a rhythm to learning each language. When you spend a ton of time in different languages, over several years, you start to see the pattern of learning that all languages fall into.

I really enjoy language as a part of each day. I could be spending my time on video games but instead I do some sort of learning, because I enjoy expanding my knowledge. This is my only major and regular time waster. I don’t watch TV and I haven’t made a lot of time to read since my kids were little, which is something I miss. Most of my time is doing traditional things like gardening, cooking, cleaning and parenting. Duolingo is still kind of a time waster because there’s no way I will become proficient, or fluent, in all of these languages, but it’s still fun. Keeps my mind working instead of getting fuzzy from age and illnesses.)

I do have to admit that I don’t know how to do “relaxing”. I watch my husband sit at the kitchen table and tune out of the world after work. I’m just not like that. I have too many thoughts, going in too many directions, to settle down and just space out. I’ve also had some really big health problems over the years and I refuse to give up and coast into the grave. So far, the universe seems to still need me, so I’m not wasting that time being listless.

I have a new glider on my back porch. I sat in it exactly once. I can’t sit for long because I see “something I could do really quick.” and then I’m back up and active for the next several hours. There’s always something else I can do.

I appreciate that my husband and I are very different. He can read instruction manuals and sit in front of a computer all day for work. I have to have something different going on, each day, and it needs to be physical. This runs in my mom’s side of the family where my family members are either scientists, engineers or contractors. I need creative space to be happy, plus I run on sunshine.

I really enjoyed the welding class I took one summer with my mom. Not a usual girlie thing to try, but right down our alley. My mom and I still have the Midwestern farm girl streak, heavily influencing us. If the world went to poop, I could have a similar lifestyle as the one I have now.

I find it fascinating that there are so many different personalities out there and so many gifts people possess.

There are many, many things I would not be suited for, nor would I  excel at them. I have a very niche experience in this life. But it’s a life I thoroughly enjoy. I think gardeners, especially, have this particular “busy” category in their lives. I believe it all has to do with how many generations separate you from your agrarian forefathers. Or maybe it’s just a genetic program my Midwestern family brought over when we fled European religious persecution or famine. My great grandparents would probably think my life was easy and listless in comparison to theirs. I don’t make my own soap in the big iron vats I inherited, after all. All kidding aside, I’ve thought about it and even though I am a successful gardener, I doubt I could reliably grow enough to feed my family outside of regular grocery store runs with the time and space I currently dedicate to this hobby. I literally could not do anything else with my day if total food independence was my goal. There’s a reason people moved to the city and paid other people to grow their food. I have a favorite YouTube channel I watch that follows the day of subsistence farmers in Azerbaijan. I usually watch things during the time I drink my morning coffee. As I watch her videos I am silently tallying how much work it would take to get to her harvests and cooking. Plus, they just got electricity and still cook with wood. It’s a really beautiful and fulfilling channel, but, wow! Tons of work.

This is her channel: https://youtu.be/fuEOrwMy9Mk?si=cn3JE3_elXRNv7GZ

What do you do to unwind? Do you find new things to do, like learning a language or being active outside? Can you get to that place of solitude and do meditation outside of those percolating random thoughts? Or tune into new linear things, like being gifted in numbers and dates? If you have a different personality than mine, what are your gifts that the “unique you” brings to the table of life? Everyone brings something different.

I’m always inspired by the diversity that manifests in each of our lives. Those things that make us unique, special and interesting.

Well. I think I’ve spent enough time sitting and writing for today. It’s time to switch, and find something fun to do, outside in the sunshine!

Meet you out in the garden,

Crazy Green Thumbs