The Year of The Spanish Fever. Post 10
It was like a crossword puzzle he couldn’t put down. The old man was hooked.
Instead of blithely going through the motions as he had originally planned, he found himself fascinated. He decided to take the study of Spanish seriously.
He wanted to find out what it is like to learn a language from scratch. It would be a year-long experiment. He would average at least 20 hours a week and he would keep notes. Read more…
The Year of The Spanish Fever. Post 11
His year-long experiment with Spanish was over. A local community college has given him credit for his two months of study abroad.
He had been caught off guard. He had planned to wam-bam the Spanish language, to stay detached and dominate their brief relationship. Their affair would end soon and on his terms.
But the beauty and vitality of español was too much for the old man.
He and his son would be together on the drive home. He had rehearsed what he was going to say.
The young man got into the car and punched his radio station as usual. Halfway home the man turned the music off to be sure he had his son’s attention.
“You’re at an age when you can get a girl pregnant. I guess you know that, right?” he began.
“They taught us that a few years ago.” His son said, looking out the window
“Questions?” The man asked.
“I’m good.” The boy said.
“Okay, then.” His father replied.
They both reached for the radio.
The most dynamic scholarship being done at the coffee shop today is by a newcomer named J-Bub.That man over there studies carbon in the Hydrosphere. The other one is researching the aftermath of China’s 1911 revolution. A woman in the corner is fleshing out a one-woman play.
But by far the most dynamic scholarship being done at the coffee shop today is by a newcomer named J-Bub. J-Bub’s field of inquiry is trucks, big trucks. He watches for them through the windows.
J-Bub is a man of few words but that’s changing quickly. He knows many more today than he did a month ago. Next year he’ll know a word for almost everything, including synonyms.
This is J-Bub’s second outing to the coffee shop with his Popi and he’s noticing things. The baristas give people something and the people give the baristas something. That’s interesting, isn’t it?
He reads context. Since there are no toys on the floor, this coffee shop isn’t really for people like him. At their next stop, at the neighborhood library, he owns the floor and everything on it.
He knows large from small, likes from dislikes, dos and don’ts, hellos and goodbyes. He is studying the exercise of power and the rewards of civil disobedience.
Two-year-olds start to put concepts together. J-Bub identified a “new toy.” He doesn’t know how to ask the why of things just yet, but he’ll start soon and he’ll never stop.
One thing that impresses us all about our new colleague is that he does all this intellectual heavy lifting without so much as a drop of caffeine.
The most dynamic scholarship being done at the coffee shop today is by a newcomer named J-Bub.That man over there studies carbon in the Hydrosphere. The other one is researching the aftermath of China’s 1911 revolution. A woman in the corner is fleshing out a one-woman play.
But by far the most dynamic scholarship being done at the coffee shop today is by a newcomer named J-Bub. J-Bub’s field of inquiry is trucks, big trucks. He watches for them through the windows. Read more…
