My midmorning mochaccino at Wawee Coffee. I challenge you to send me a cuter cuppa. (And yes I don’t know how to center when I shoot. I haven’t had my coffee yet after all!
Getting Frisky with the Chicken: What the Big Mango Does with Poultry and other Meats
Five days and a chest cold into our new life in Bangkok, I finally made it out for my first foray into one of our local markets. It took me a few seconds to register that something was different when I came across the meat and seafood section.
It was a central display just behind where I stood when I took this picture – the sort you typically see for fruits – where different chicken cuts and slabs of bacon were laid out that snapped me out of my semi-engaged mosey down the aisles. A woman was handling various chunks of bacon back the same way I might handle cantaloupes or avocados to check for ripeness. She was picking up and tossing back different pieces until she had filled a bag; I’d say she had at least 20 pounds of bacon in there.
Now I am not generally too squeamish. I love the southern european markets where all of the animal is available for view. I believe if you are going to eat meat, you should know what it is and where it comes from. I don’t even think I mind people handling the meat -or at least I can see myself getting over that- unless of course I plan on making steak tartare.
What gets to me is what is she doing with her hands after she finishes bagging that quarter pig? Is she off to rummage through vegetables? Check some fruits for ripeness? Or in my worst case scenario, reach out and ruffle my child’s hair or touch her cheek as EVERYONE seems to do here in Asia? I did not spot the use of a wet wipe or see a packet of tissues come out of her handbag let alone a bottle of Purell. Is she just going to move on her ‘meaty’ way.
I do want to say that the market, including the meat area, was impeccable and everything smelled incredibly fresh. I may have opted for some chicken under cellophane today but I don’t plan on being so coy on my next visit. I will however have some hand sanitizer and I’ll be leaving the children at home.
A Turning Point: Moving Beyond Languages.
I’ve had two blogs and as a result frequently neglected them both when I can’t figure out where I should post something. (Utterly stupid I realize)
So despite my deep love for the look of my Tumblr blog, which I just can’t seem to recreate on WordPress as well as the nifty quote and link options, I am going to put it into hibernation -it pretty much already was in one anyway- and post everything I feel like writing about here for the time being.
For those of you who subscribed only for languages, I apologize in advance. I categorize posts so you can ignore as you see fit. To everyone else, I hope I can amuse you at times or at least help you stave off a little boredom on occasion.
And yes I really welcome any thoughts anyone might have on this if I haven’t already put you to sleep with this navel-gazing post.
January Carnival: It’s time for an injection of cultural color & fun!
Every month, a group of dedicated bloggers comes together to publish a carnival devoted to multilingualism. Click here for more information or to host a carnival on your site.
As always I am grateful to be a part of this group. This month has a spectacular selection of posts. It seems like the new year has inspired many to take stock of the tools that help us keep the languages flowing. I hope you will enjoy this carnival as much as I did pulling it together. A big thanks to Letizia at Bilingue per Gioco, the founder of the carnival and the person who really helps keep it all running smoothly.
Tools of the Trade
Amanda from An Educator’s Spin on it shares her craftiness and resourcefulness in her journey to raise her children bilingual. An incredible feat given that she isn’t bilingual but is herself learning Russian as she goes along. A truly inspiring post.
Mummy do that talks about the challenges of being responsible for the minority language and her discovery of a wonderful local resource. Her post on “The Language Hub” includes a wonderful interview with the Hub’s director, hopefully inspiring some budding entrepreneurs out there to open their own versions?
Jen from Perogies & Gyoza also stresses using what is around you to help reinforce the language in her post on Environmental Print. I am realizing how little I know about other languages – like how Japanese school children learn three different sets of characters also known as syllabaries. (and yes I DID have to look it up).
Maria from Busy as a Bee in Paris shares how families who eat and read together stay trilingual together!
And following tips for reinforcing languages at home, Sarah from Bilingual Baby gives us Auto-Immersion, a post full of fabulous suggestions on how to reinforce language during car trips (or other travel),which also doubles as a great suggestions just to keep the kids busy!
Wrapping up the tools section, Bonne Maman from Our Non-Native Bilingual Adventure shares her latest creation a non-native language crib-sheet. It is ready-made for Franglais users or a good template for anyone else wishing to set one up in their tongues.
On Culture
Babel Kid reminds us that learning a language is more than just knowing words. In her post Tataouine-les-Bains, Babel Mum shares an adorable anecdote reminding us how much culture plays into our understanding of language.
Annabelle from Gato & Canard ponders multilingual identities and how where you are born is not automatically where you are from.
In her post Code Switching and Sign Language, Giovanna from Italobimbi tells us about code-blending or speaking two languages simultaneously, one of which is a recognized sign language such as ASL.
Keeping Faith and Letting Go
In Help Me: My Child is too Darn Stubborn, Intrepidly Bilingual tells us how they have tried to work around their eldest’s refusal to read and write in German and puts out a call for advice: Push, Resign, Persuade…do you hold the answer?
Roxana from Spanglish Baby shares her concerns in Will My Grandchildren Speak Spanish after reading a recent Pew report with surprising numbers illustrating the decline in language proficiency for later generations. Right now, I am still focused on how this question applies to my kids vs my grandkids. No doubt I will eventually worry about that too.
Lynn’s post entitled Bilingual Parenting without a Recipe is a joy to read especially for those of us who struggle with consistency or have chosen a more hap hazard approach to our bilingual parenting. It is incredibly refreshing to see someone who doesn’t appear to obsess about language acquisition but is going with the flow and pleased with the results. I can definitely learn from this post.
In the Binky Fairy, Tamara from Non Native Bilingualism tells us of the story of how the schnulli (possibly the best word for pacifier ever!) fairy helped their daughter give up her pacifier. No matter the language, this is always an emotional challenge for everyone involved.
Finally we spend so much time worrying about how our kids will learn/maintain/embrace languages and do this often as an outsider since many of us have long ago acquired ours. In When Relocation Adds a New Language to the Mix, I ponder the impact of imposing all these languages and look forward to putting myself in the hot-seat as I try to acquire a new language as well.
Happy Lunar New Year: May the Dragon bring us all strength.
Multilingual Mama 