Ricki, Language, and “Machtesh(im)”

(Photo of the Machtesh hakatan, by Ester Inbar, available from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:ST.)

When Rick’s science class started studying the topic of mirrors, I looked over the material to try and determine what was the most useful part of the information for her to study. I decided that the learning of the words and concept of “concave” and “convex” would probably be the most practical area of the facts to emphasize. So I made a worksheet of various shaped objects, with a place for her to fill in the appropriate term. And even though the Hebrew word for concave is similar to that for “bowl”, it wasn’t easy. After a while, she sort of learned it, but with a rather high rate of errors. I doubted that she would even retain more than a hazy knowledge of the words beyond a few months, but I hoped for the best.
Now the class has reached the topic of “lenses”. “Great! Another chance to reinforce these words.”
But I discovered that somehow, someway, the terms had sunk in. She knew the words, and used them appropriately time and again. I was pleased that the previous efforts had worked, but there was an even better surprise awaiting me. Last week, as I sat down with Ricki to do some geography homework on the “Negev” (Israel’s desert area), and the “machteshim” (see HERE),Ricki took one look at the picture of the machtesh haKatan (small Machtesh), and said: “Hey, it’s concave!” Not only did she know the word, and use it appropriately, she had transferred her knowledge from science and used it in an entirely new context!

Foreign Language Students (and Immigrants) Take Note(s)

Terri of Barriers, Bridges, and Books asks the question: “What have you learned or become that you might not have without and encounter with disability?”
If I would answer honestly, you might end up having a post the size of an abbreviated “War and Peace”…I could elaborate on learning acceptance, patience, learning to use the computer, etc etc., etc………
A funny answer, yet a true one, is that my mastery of Hebrew (I live in Israel) has increased ten fold. I joke with my new immigrant friends: “If you want to learn Hebrew really well, have a special needs child….
But I am not kidding here. I raised several children in the sunny country of the prophets before Ricki, and my Hebrew had reached a level that I could make “do” with. But I could “manage” because English is virtually the third language here, and how many serious discussions did I have in Hebrew anyway? “Put your shoes away.”, “I want two bottles of wine.” Just doesn’t need too big of an ability. But unlike my husband, who is a wiz at languages, I progressed slowly at best.
Fast forward to Ricki, age one and a half. Speech therapy. Years of speech therapy, therapy Mom sat in on and heard..
When Ricki turned seven, I hired a special once-a-week teacher for her. This teacher had aims that Ricki would know more than a basic pigeon Hebrew. She wanted her to learn literary words. Ricki did (and does). And so did Mom.
Then I had to fight half the country to get Ricki into inclusion, and then from a poor school to a more positive one. I had to advocate in Hebrew. In addition, I adapt most of Ricki’s work, which means that I have to read Hebrew texts and simplify them, all in good, properly spelled Hebrew. (And we are speaking her of a woman who could not write without “spell-check”, being that I am a terrible speller.) Words like “industrial revolution”, “capillaries”, “bluish” (as opposed to blue), and “miners” entered my wither-to raisin-dry (shrunken) vocabulary.
So if you want to learn a new language….take note, and at speech therapy…. take notes.

Language and Discrimination

The “Tropic Thunder” debate rages on. I hope that this will be my final post on this.

I was in nursing school when the word "mongoloid" was still used freely for Down's syndrome, and it was used as a slur as well. Eventually they used other phrases. But ANY word which is used for the mentally disabled, whether it is "Mongoloid", "Moron", "imbecile", or "retard", or (now) "full retard" WILL eventually be used to hurt and slander people. Because people feel that the intellectually challenged* are worth less. They cost money. The intellectually disabled* community is discriminated against to the point that most fetuses with Down syndrome are aborted.
Boycotting "Tropic Thunder" will not change that. As long as people hate, there will be improper use of language, taunts, and slurs.
Telling people to not see the movie will not help. Those who are insensitive would not listen anyway. I think that a NEGATIVE approach will not get us very far.
I think that our main thrust has to be at PROMOTING rights and respect for the disabled. We have to support the closure of large institutions where the "clients" are treated as numbers, not people. (If an institution is so big that they don’t have a say in what they eat for breakfast, they have lost their rights to be an INDIDUAL.) We have to encourage and support places that hire the intellectually disabled. We have to protest when someone calls a teen with Down syndrome a nick-name fit for a three year old. We have to encourage our child’s right to make certain choices.
However, I do feel the Ben Stiller owes a debt to the disabled community for three things:
1. marketing specially the sub movie "simple Jack"
2& 3. Two disturbing scenes involving Mcconaughey, where he is obviously unhappy with his intellectually impaired* son. This was too similar to the way the “regular”world views parents of children with Down syndrome. It is definitely reinforcing a stereotype that is as false as can be.

For these three things, I personally would tell Mr. Stiller, that the only way he can hope to make recompense would be by paying for public service announcements favoring those with intellectual disabilities*.

I would like to see (much more than protests) many more videos like the one I put on my blog on Wednesday.
And, in the meantime, we must train our children to have self respect, and to know how to react as safely as possible in the face of discrimination and abuse.

* Can’t we find a SHORTER euphemism than “Intellectually impaired/disabled/challenged”???

[Note: Please see added comments.]

The Bilingual Country

Israel is a language student’s delight: large segments of the population speak two (or more) languages, and there is a large variety of languages spoken in the country. Almost all elderly people in Israel speak two languages: that of their country of origin, and Hebrew. Common second languages are English, Russian, Yiddish, French, Spanish, and Arabic. Other some-times heard languages include Portuguese, eastern European languages, and German. Even native-born elderly persons are likely to know English, from the time of the British mandate. And the constant influx of new immigrants, coupled with tourists, make it extremely common to hear “foreign” languages on the bus, in stores, and everywhere in between. Museum displays are always written with English in addition to Hebrew, and taped presentations in a variety of languages is common.. Add to this the fact that many products, DVD’s, etc, are produced and imported from Europe, fully labeled (and DVD’s labeled or spoken) in an assorted medley of languages. (Sometimes my kids turn their favorite DVD to a different language, just to hear what “Toy Story” sounds like in Italian or Japenese.) Another large segment of non-Hebrew speakers are the Chasidic Orthodox population, who often speak Yiddish. However, despite their preference for Yiddish, they will generally know Hebrew quite well

So this morning, as I waited for a bus, a young chasidic boy (about 6 years old) at the bus stop asked me in Hebrew: “What time is it?”
-“Eight twenty two.”
This child was impeccably dressed, two long earlocks framing his face, and reminded me of my oldest grandson. His forehead creased slightly. “Can you tell me in Yiddish?”
This was a bit of a problem for me. I know only the briefest smattering of Yiddish, including numbers up to ten. Twenty two is not included in MY Yiddish lexicon. So I said “ten and ten plus two… almost half-past eight.”
He asked me in Hebrew which numbers of buses had gone by, and which not. Five minutes later he asked if it was already eight thirty. I asked if his school started at eight thirty, and he nodded yes. I felt sorry for him because he was going to be late, due to a lapse in bus service. (Several minutes had passed with no buses going by, much longer than expected.) Later he boarded the bus with me, and as he got off the stop before mine, I thought to myself: I hope his teacher isn’t angry, and believes him when he says the bus was late. He looked like a really sweet child, and I wanted him to have a nice start to his day.