How the Portuguese is Going....

I've mentioned that my Avon Lady, Bible Study Leader, Neighbor, Friend Louci has agreed to teach the big boys Portuguese, and thought it's about time for an update on how that's going.

Louci is truly a dear lady, and I'm grateful to have met her. As one who does not believe in accidents, I truly believe she was sent to us on purpose, and I'm really, really glad that we were seen fit to receive the blessing of meeting Louci. I hope that we can be a blessing to her as well.

The boys had their 3rd lesson yesterday, right after the birth of the kitties. To say they were distracted would be an understatement, but Louci handled it beautifully, fully understanding the excitement of small children welcoming small animals into their family.

She is a very capable teacher, and as she is also a Christian, she begins each class with a short prayer; she is teaching the boys to pray in Portuguese, which I think is a good thing. She is having them memorize a prayer, which is not my preferred method, but for the meantime, I think it is okay.

She then works through the day's lesson, progressing at whatever rate suits that boy. She teaches them separately, which is new for us and I think very beneficial for the boys. The Artist can no longer coast through class on The Writer's coat tails, and The Writer is no longer bothered by The Artist's distractability during class. Each of them can now progress at his own rate, moving through as few or as many pages as he is able to absorb in a single hour. It's really wonderful.

Louci also tailors the content to fit each boy, delving deeper into more complicated conversation with The Writer than she does with The Artist, as his age, maturity, and willingness to learn allow. Her patience is tremendous, particularly with The Artist. He is not a bad student, not disrespectful or slow or defiant, but his mind wanders and he is easily distracted; it is hard for him to focus for so long on one thing. Louci does not mind this, and works quite well with him. I could not have asked for a better teacher for him.

During or at the end of class (she's begun having this time in the middle for The Artist, which I was going to suggest but she did on her own), she sings with the boys. She is teaching them common praise songs in Portuguese, and helping them to learn the words & melodies. I think that perhaps her motive here is partly to get them comfortable enough with the language that they might come with me to Bible Study (it is a family small group), but I'm not sure. Or perhaps just to get them comfortable enough that they won't mind attending church. Maybe she just enjoys singing praises to our Lord, and wants to encourage that in the boys. Whatever it is, I don't mind. The songs are fun, so far they are songs we know in English, and the boys seem to enjoy it as well.

The materials she is using are very practical, much more so than waht they were doing before. She spends much time in conversation, gently correcting pronunciation and grammar, but only enough so that they don't make embarrassing errors. She was quick to teach them to be careful of casado and cansado, the first meaning married and the latter meaning tired. I did not share with her my years-ago mistake with just those same two words, but I smiled to know that my boys will be spared such an embarrassing slip-up.

The boys do grumble about class, but half-heartedly, in a manner that says "I don't like adding new things and new work and being stretched a bit out of my comfort zone" rather than "this class is utterly terrible and I cannot believe you are making me do it." I think given a few more weeks, the grumbling will stop and they'll relax into the new routine. Already it's slowing down, which I find promising.

I really can't express just how glad I am that Louci found us; she's already blessed our family in so many ways. She is a treasure, and I hope we can show her that we consider her as such.