ESL

Last night an ESL teacher (Josh)worked with Tanya and Luba for about 90 minutes in an interesting combination of English and Russian. The girls were so excited - they insisted on wearing their church dresses for the lesson. Josh was warm and kind and very thorough with the girls. I realized that I rarely correct the girls' pronunciations of English words because I want them to maintain their courage to try to speak English. But Josh really focused on pronunciation, and they made great strides yesterday. I left them alone at the kitchen table for the lesson, and when I returned, Tanya had scooted her chair right over to him and Luba was standing in between Luba and Josh. They were so eager to learn!!

Josh explained to me that the girls asked for clarification on the word "thirsty." When I ask if they are thirsty, they think I'm asking if they are "Thursday"!!!! How cute! No wonder they look at me with their heads cocked sideways sometimes. Tanya and Luba were also confused about the difference between lunch, dinner and supper. They new all three words, and they expected to have each of those three meals each day following breakfast. Yes, that is confusing because some Americans still call lunch "dinner."

As Josh was heading out the door and saying goodbye to me on the front porch, T&L each ran from the kitchen to the front door breathlessly to ask for more translations.

Last night Tanya told me that four of her Ukrainian friends in the U.S. read our blog and enjoy seeing pictures of her. I agreed to let Tanya pick out her most "kryseva" pictures to post next time...so they will be coming soon!!

Yes, it was another good day!