B has homework for his Japanese classes. I didn't think this was a problem...it's kindergarten. He has to draw a picture or practice writing a character or circle the bigger object.
This week's homework was about opposites. There were pictures and sentences to go with the pictures. The problem was, I had no idea what the sentences were saying. I could read the words, but a few of the opposites eluded me. One was 2 pictures of a boy at a crosswalk, with the light going red or green. I could tell this part, but I didn't know what 'susumu' meant nor did I know what the opposite of it was (I guessed at susume meaning go or proceed so I thought maybe it was wait or stop?) I could figure out the one about the turtle neck and the giraffe neck and most of the other ones. A couple of them B could explain to me once I read them aloud to him.
B refused to accept that we wouldn't be able to finish his homework, as "sensei won't be impressed if I don't know all the words".
So there I was, running around just before pickup, trying to find a parent who speaks Japanese. Luckily I found a mom who could check my answers and explain the two that I didn't know. (And now I know that 'stop' is 'tomaru'.)
It feels more obvious now that I'm not panicking. I guess I'm spending this weekend studying.
Although - I just arranged with a friend to do a language exchange. She will teach me some Mandarin and I will help her improve her English. It should be fun.
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