I just forgot the words

That's how it feels sometimes...words that I think I really ought to know (and I should!) just don't seem to stick the way they did when I was, um, younger. "School", for instance. Now that's a word that we use a lot, but it just doesn't stick. Or "don't touch". I must say it a thousand times a day...in English...the Chinese eludes me. I frequently find myself wanting to use ASL (sign language) when the Chinese words won't come...my brain is searching through its language banks and that's the best that it can come up with.

Marissa is coming along the fastest in conversational Chinese. She has a knack for it, which is really great to see. I have noticed lately that when I am having trouble communicating with the ayis, they will look to Marissa to translate. That doesn't mean she can always do better than I can, but they do recognize that she understands a lot and uses more vocabulary than I do.

Lindsay pretty much refuses to say anything...at least when I can hear. She has a perfectionist streak, and maybe a little something else, holding her back. I am surprised that the Chinese has not come back naturally to her, but not surprised that she is least anxious to immerse herself. She has her reasons. But, I think pretty soon resistance may be futile...today while I was upstairs and she was downstairs with the other kids I heard her let loose with a string of Chinese that sounded pretty darn good.

Kristen is, well, Kristen. She says she doesn't understand her teachers at school. But understanding the words and getting the meaning are two different things. Lindsay said the same when she started kindergarten in the US...but somehow she knew exactly what was going on. Today as we were climbing the 93 steps up to our apartment, Kristen was counting the steps (talk about adding to the pain!). "23-24-25" I said, "Kristen, why don't you count in Chinese?" Her response? "I am, Mommy, I just forgot the words."
I can relate to that.

Kristen with Angie, our student intern translator.