Wow

Some would call it a coincidence. Others would call it positive energy, good mojo or zen. Some (me, in this case) would call it God at work. I asked for your prayers last week because I was a bit freaked out from my first day at the Foreign Service Institute. I came home completely overwhelmed. The next day - the first real day of class - was long, full of hard work and I came home high and exhilerated. I worked in my Russian books for a couple of hours after I got home because I was so excited. That continued the rest of the week. Let's hope it can last for seven months.

I was easily able to fall into a nice routine last week. I got up as I alway shortly before Doug leaves, ate breakfast (the most important meal of the day) then went to the gym right away. I set the treadmill for an hour during which I pray and review vocabulary and dialogues so it's fresh in my head for the day. By the way, I'm using one of the suggestions I gave my students. I study briefly just before bed so I can sleep on the new material. Some new words always survive the night.

I read a fascinating article today about difficult languages (difficult from an English speaker's perspective). If is online at Economist.com: http://www.economist.com/world/international/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=15108609

It's not long, read it. Here is a sample of what you'll see:

When we speak, air leaves our mouth (duh). There are languages that have consonant sounds in which you inhale.

Our words carry the same meaning whether we pitch our voice high or low. In Mandarin Chinese there are four tonal levels; 6 in Cantonese; 7 or 8 in Min.

Some African languages have clicks made similar to the way we "tsk" to get a horse to go. But it sounds more like the loud, hollow sound you make when you click your tongue. (That last comment was mine because I have heard it in some music I have.)

Here's a word for you, it's a Turkish word: Cekoslovakyalilastiramadiklarimizdanmissiniz. It means, "Were you one of those people whom we could not make into a Czechoslovakian?" One word means all that!

It has been proposed that your thoughts are influenced by your language. there is an aboriginal people in Australia who have no word for left or right. They are very specific, "Your southeast shoe is untied." Ask any of us to point east at any given time and we'd probably spin around a few times, orient our selves and either guess or figure it out. These people always know the directions accurately. Always. It's in them from their language.

I'm really glad I'm learning Russian. Last week I learned a tongue twister in Russian. Tomorrow I get to tell my first story in Russian. It won't be very good. I only know three verbs.