In the second day of German classes we discussed where everyone was from and what languages they speak. I’ve spent most of my adult life in very white, very uni-lingual cities (London, Ont and Victoria, BC) and was amazed at how I was the odd person out. 7 people were from Turkey, 2 from Serbia, and the others from Iraq, Afghanistan, Romania, Egypt, Czech Republic, and me from Canada.
The languages that the 16 of us speak are: German, English, Serbian, Italian, Slovakian, Czech, Persian, Hindi, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabian, French and Russian.
One woman, Ana, was from Serbia but had spent the last 16 years in Russian. She spoke English well and we were able to chat. At break about 6 of us go for coffee and it is pretty interesting trying to piece together a conversation. Since everyone is struggling, it is easier to make an attempt. Very good practice.
Annie is also making out well with her daycare. Her clear verbal skills in English are helpful, as one of her caretakers, Gabby, speaks English well. And she certainly is picking up a lot of German; I’m sure she will be fairly fluent in a couple of months.
In other news, Markus left for Victoria yesterday morning for two weeks. Rebecca and I promptly got the flu and Annie has a cold. Good times on the home front. We’ll get through it, we’ll get through it….