November 5, 2018

Growing up my parents spoke Portuguese as a secret code so my brother and I couldn't understand them. I vowed to learn Portuguese so I could know what secrets they talked about. It turns out my high school Spanish worked just as well.

I remember the day well, we were all in my dad's small car running errands in Fort Worth. My brother and I were in the back and my parents were in the front talking about something or other when all of the sudden they switched to Portuguese. They said some words I didn't understand but then they said "helado" and I knew enough high school Spanish to pick up that they were talking about ice cream. Foolishly, I said, "Yes! Let's get ice cream" and that was the end of the Portuguese code language with my parents.

On my way back from Honduras I was in the airport going through customs and talking with the customs officer and at the end realizing I had been speaking in Spanish. That same summer I remember being in a Target and listening to some ladies talking on the other side of the clothes rack, they were speaking Spanish and I knew what they said. I felt like I was in a secret Spanish club, I was now in a world where I could communicate in my own secret language.

The summer after living in Tchad I was working at Camp Alamisco in Alabama and a group of French youth pastors came over to observe our camp and take back new ideas to France. Since I was the only staff who spoke French I was their official tour guide and showed them the ropes, making friends with them in the process. Again, I found myself in the secret language club.

Even before I planned on coming over here to Cambodia I started learning bits and pieces of Khmer from my friend Khunara, Ra for short. My second Christmas back in Oakhurst I was beyond excited to visit her because I knew all the greetings and wanted to show her I could talk some Khmer. In reality I didn't really know much more than the greetings and a few numbers to barter with in the market. Almost two years in being here I realized I was not learning enough on my own to be in the secret Khmer language club. I needed more help and I needed a class. It is always scary learning a new language, especially in a class. It's vulnerable, hard and embarrassing when you don't understand. But I wanted in the club so I got brave and I went to a class.

The only way to describe what happened is, imagine a big lake that is dammed up, now imagine the dam opening and pouring out water from the lake. That's what my classes felt like, a lake of Khmer words pouring out of me. As each class went by more and more words came and more sentences developed. So much in such a short amount of time. It seems like overnight I was able to have conversations in Khmer. It's been an incredible ride. I finished my class a couple months ago and don't study like I should but I still get to be in the secret Khmer club. Today at lunch I was able to tell a story in Khmer so I could include my friends who don't speak English and it always feels awesome to be able to fill them in on what we were talking about in English. I have a long way to go until I feel really confident in Khmer, but I'm looking forward to visiting with Ra next month and having a REAL conversation with her in Khmer. I want so badly to be in the Khmer language club.

Before I sign off for the day I will tell you the silliest thing I have accidentally said in Khmer, I may have told you already because I think it's hilarious. I had just learned how to ask and answer age questions so I practiced on a friend in Taskor village. I asked him and he in return asked me how old I was so with confidence a diligent student I replied, "Khnum samsap pram chmaa" which in English means, "I am 35 cats". I also mix up months and years which comes out sounding silly and crazy. Today at lunch I mixed up some other word up. It's not easy getting into a language club but it's always worth it.

And that is a small story about being in secret language clubs.





Comments

Christoffer said…
Sonya! Good for you taking that class. I hope your conversation with Ra is just as fun as you imagine it to be. Well done. Also, I'd think it'd be a great thing to be 35 cats.

Popular posts from this blog

Tales from an exile

Phase 2

Almost nearly perfectly content.