Wednesday, September 10, 2008

high school spanish in a week or less.

So it's like 2 am or so, I've been awake for 2 hours.....after going to bed at about 7.30.

You know what I gotta say? I love Facebook. I'm facebook friends with some of my cousins, and some of them I haven't seen in many many years. (At least 2nd cousins. I only have 4 first cousins, three live only two hours away and one recently moved to San Francisco, so isn't too far away, and so I see them pretty regularly.) From a facebook status, I learned that a first cousin was moving to Missouri. From looking at what network someone belonged to, I learned where a second cousin was studying at college. On facebook chat, I learned that my 16 year old second cousin is OBSESSED with Israel (and so, obviously, thought I was a total badass for being in Israel.) I learned that a "step"-cousin was in Argentina, and that her brother (my other "step"-cousin) was engaged to a girl from Kazakhstan. And just a few minutes ago I got a message from a second cousin that I haven't seen, spoken to, or heard talk about since I was very little (he's about four years older, and the last time I remember seeing him he was like 12 or so), and he makes a reference to his boyfriend. Jeez, how awesome is facebook? There's no need to stay in contact with these people outside of the internet.

Jesus, I just found my mom's cousin on facebook (who's like 40). Hahahaha.



So I'm about 80 percent sure I have a job for the year tutoring a 10th grader. I'm supposed to be helping in all subject areas, so that means that this week I have to review things like geometry and biology because they're not exactly fresh in my mind. I was talking to the girl's mom yesterday on the phone, and she's like, "And [girl's name] is taking basic Spanish...can you help her with that?" And I explained that I could probably teach her some study skills, like HOW one learns foreign languages and how to study for tests, because I've studied a few languages but that I hadn't ever studied Spanish (despite it being my first language...which I then forgot) so that I probably couldn't help with Spanish-specific issues. So the woman asks me what languages I've studied, and so I told her that I studied Hebrew, French, Latin, and a bit of Arabic and a bit of Italian.

So then the woman goes, "Oh, then I'm SURE you can help her with Spanish."

Me: "Um....are you sure? I mean, I don't really know Spanish......"

Mother: "Right, but if you know French, Latin, and Italian then it shouldn't be a problem for you to just pick it up really quickly."


Uhhhhhh.....so I guess I'm learning Spanish this week. this is in addition to reviewing latin, hebrew, french, biology, and geometry. Fucking hell. I guess I better get started.

Things to do between now and September 23rd (first day of classes):
Study Latin, French, Hebrew.
Learn Spanish.
Review Geometry and Biology.
Pack for college.
Clean room.
Buy a bit of school clothing.
Drive from LA to Chicago.
Move into new dorm room.
Buy books.
See friends for first time in 6 months.

3 comments:

Abraham said...

homie don't waste time learning spanish (though i need to bone up on hebrew like nobodies business! eep!). find a copy of the kids textbook from the library, and just review in advance what she's studying. You know how romance languages form, and spanish verbs are super similar to latin (just drop the -e from the infinitive, and round the vowels).

can't wait. when are you back?

vhgrl

Sam said...

yeah, im thinking of just being one lesson ahead of the kid at all times. i mean, it's not as if i didn't flat out tell the mother that i dont know spanish..... the problem is that high school has already started, so i'll have to study like four weeks or so of lessons. but that's not so bad i guess.

i leave LA next Wednesday or so and then I'm driving.....soooo....Chicago on Saturday? Sunday? how long does this take?

Also, i emailed edna a while ago about taking second year hebrew. still no response. im thinking of just showing up on the first day and being like, "hey, im here!" can we have a time though where we have lunch in hebrew together? that'd be cool.

wooooooooo

Abraham said...

oh you know what it is? She closes the classes like almost immediately, since she knows who all is gonna be in, you know. So just show up (I think she goes back to ha'aretz during the summers? or at least ignores school stuff) and she'll help you out. She loves us. She let me take 180 and hebrew at the same time, which was amazing cause two other filmies she didn't let do that!

totally, hebrew lunch! I'm down. also, since you're back, we can restart hebrew table!