Aural Comprehension

Thought this was an interesting concept to try and grasp.

The other night I was filling out an application to find some part-time work while I'm still here

 in Alaska. I had to recount the long list of jobs I've held in the past (oh, the many years of customer service!), think of personal references who would say nice things about me (do people ever really call your personal references unless it's your very first job?) and give my educational history (yes, I am a college graduate applying to clean hotel rooms! gotta prahblem wit it???) There were a few fill-in-the-blank boxes where you could list any other special talents that could help me procure the desired job position. One box was about computer skills. Another was about hobbies and activities. And then a third box stood there and taunted me: Languages. The vast, four-sided shape stood totally empty.

 

I know I recently wrote about this, but it shames me that I never seriously studied a language as a child. I took French for a few years...but it's hard to teach yourself French as a 6th grader who was homeschooled. The one phrase I remember clearly in French is "Tout le monde rit!" Everyone laughs! And then there are the numerous terms I know from my many years in ballet...."plie, frappe, battement" bend, strike, beat! (hmm..ballet sounds rather violent in those terms!

I even took two semesters of Sign Language to fulfill my language requirement in college. I was the best in my class..but that wasn't really saying much considering the rest of the class could barely count to 10 by the end of the year. My greatest sucess with sign language was years ago playing a rousing game of Guesstures. I looked right at my mom (who also studied it years ago) and did the sign for the specific word when it was my turn and we won! Everyone said it didn't count, but I still consider it a small victory.

 

Well, back to this empty box just staring at me. Not that it would make a huge difference if I could fluently speak Italian in order to procure a job in Alaska. But I felt compelled to put something, since I really am, honest-to-goodness trying to learn Italian! I can understand quite a bit of what people are talking about. I can watch tv in Italian and get the gist. I'm even trying to teach Ava words throughout the day when I think of it. The problem really comes when I try to form my own sentences. So I literally wrote this in the big, blank box: "Aural comprehension of Italian" Yep...that's all I've got for now.  But hey, Alaska is a big state, and you just never know when some Italians might head over to Fairbanks and need someone to listen to them!