Have you ever thought about how you say certain letters or make certain sounds? Have you ever considered where you tongue lies in your mouth when you form these sounds or letters? Well, that's the kind of thing we discovered over the past two weeks while at our Second Language Acquisition (SLA) classes at the Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) in Union Mills, North Carolina (NC). We are proud to say that we can now trill our R's and make the Ng and Ny sounds beautifully! It may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's a huge step for us, because these are significant sounds in the Kiswahili language. We also learned about the different learning styles and techniques that can be used accordingly, so that information is helpful as we think about and plan out our language learning program. An answer to prayer: Seth had a FABULOUS time!! He didn't want to leave, in fact. There were 5 teens altogether: twin 15-year-old girls (Andrea and Vanessa Zakas), a brother (Matt--16 years old) and sister (Mandy--13 years old), and then Seth. All 5 of these teens are headed to the continent of Africa. SWEET! They got along well and spent most of their time together, either in class or just playing pool, ping pong, or volleyball. What a huge blessing that was for Seth and for us!!
And now we are back in NJ and preparing for our January departure. Today is Arlene's last day of working at The Way Station of Truth and Life. It has been a tremendous blessing for Arlene to have had that opportunity of working at the bookstore over the past year.