And so we survived the first Portuguese lesson...

Admitting that we haven't started lessons has brought on quite a few frowns, yet I realized yesterday that we will probably benefit from this oversight.

We are fortunate enough to have private lessons, this means I can't hide behind someones back in class though! We discovered just going through the alphabet that we actually already have some basic vocabulary - even if our pronounciation is somewhat awry! After six months you already have an idea of how a language flows, recognize written words, especially me, whilst Frank has picked up many expressions.

Having a hearing disability means that I have a tendency to read subtitles on television, this is a bonus but it is also a barrier. Since I can see the word, but if it's pronounced correctly I don't recognize it!

Learning a fourth or fifth or even sixth language should be easy, sure if you're 10 years old not this side of 50! Fortunately for both of us, we did study French and German sometime during our lives along with Afrikaans and Swedish we actually have a cocktail of vocabulary that made our teacher proud! Until we admitted borrowing words from Swedish, Czech and sounds from Hungarian!

I guess in the end I will no longer be able to speak any one language properly, even my English is splattered with words like 'vanta,' 'va,' 'komma nu' now I will add 'sim', 'tudo bem,' nao' amongst others. Only Alixandra will understand me in a few years time!

Speaking of which, my poor daughter has gone from Afrikaans to English then she had to learn Swedish as a 2nd language, French - 3rd, Spanish 4th, back to Afrikaans as a 2nd language at school in South Africa. Now Portuguese as a second language for IB!

Next lesson is tomorrow, now I had better find my notes because dementia has filed everything I learn't somewhere in a database in the 'grey matter' and forgotten all about it!

Seriously!

If u can't get published then do it yourself!

Over the years I have received and bought many blank books.

Blank pages that were supposed to have been filled with thoughts and experiences, those books still empty - not because of a lack of anything to write but because there was too much to write!

I love writing and living in different countries, alright there are many people who travel a lot more than I ever will, but for those years I am away from home I need to stay in touch with family and friends, even my children are now spread over three continents!

Modern technology has made life so much easier. I can chat to Stephan everyday, 'see' Carl every week. No wonder it's easy to put your kids on a plane and let them carve their own pathways, all with a happy heart.

In 1969 when my parents packed two suitcases and left their family, friends, city and country behind they did not know when, if ever they would see them again. Well Mom didn't ever see her stepmother again! She also saw her sister again for the first time in 1995 only. Okay, I must add, for those that don't know, my parents left Czechoslovakia, at that time a country behind the iron curtain, to give my sister and myself, a better life! And yes, I am very grateful!

Now my kids are leaving home one by one and yet, I feel a great joy as they explore the world on their own, knowing that I am only a second away!

Oh dear, not quite what I intended to write, but I guess that is what happens when it's all unplanned! I was just checking the internet, looking for an easy blogging site to use and here I am! Decided to try it out and will pass by my kids to hear their opinion before I tell anyone else!

Fantastic tool to keep in touch and keep everyone clued up on what is going on in my little part of the world!

So yes, now I am publishing myself! Yippeee. This post may not be the most exciting you will ever read, but it is the start of a fun filled journey on which I hope you will join me!

Feel free to comment, chat or whatever.