Goodbyes

Language School is interesting.  The courses are taught in four week segments and you progress through the school as your ability improves.  My first class was a group of 13 people ranging in age from 15 to 60.  We were all pretty comparable with our place in understanding the grammar, but several had the pronunciation and fluidity of the language flow from their lips.  I was not one of them. 

However, early on I realised not everyone comes for a year of study.  The 15 year old was there just the first week of the class!  Most come for a few months, or at least a month.  Others may join us a week after class begins.  One gal comes for two weeks at a time a couple months apart.  

This week there were 10 in the class.  Today one of them said goodbye to us.  He was from Brazil and he could speak Italian well, but he struggled with understanding the differences in the grammar.

The class members are from all over the world.  There are three from Vietnam, two from China, three from the United States, and one from Switzerland.  I've been in class with Germans, people from Poland, Turkey, Egypt, Mexico, and Venezuela.  They have all touched my heart while trying to learn this beautiful language with them. 

However, today was one of those days, we were again saying good-bye to one of the class mates.  This one I am sad to see him go.  He was an encourager.  He would take time to talk with people.  He did not know English, and I do not know Portuguese, so our common language was Italian.  We were able to communicate our thoughts.

As I am learning all the different tenses, I have them all rolling around in my head, and it seems to me that I chose the wrong tense of the verb many times.  I do believe I will learn to use them correctly.  Because not too long ago I didn't even use verbs in my 'sentences'! 

Tomorrow will be a day of study and review.  Most of it will be in airports or on airplanes.  I'm heading home to say a final goodbye to a couple who were like parents to me.  This will be a hard goodbye, but this time it will be like a 'see you later'.  They lived their faith in God.