What is it like to take language lessons during retirement? Amazing! Since late May we have been taking Malaysian (Bahasa Malayu or simply Behasa) at the YMCA. Our teacher, Noorita, has a gift for drumming the language into us - making it fun and bringing people together. Each class starts with the same conversation - "good evening," "everyone well?" "any questions?? "Have you eaten?" "What have you eaten?" By now we respond without thinking. Last class we had a contest, asking and answering questions, in Bahasa. The teams were Wanita Kuasa (Girl Power) and Kampong YMCA (kampong is a village).
"Sudah makan" (Have you eaten) seems to be the Malaysian equivalent of "How are you?" But in this case we report our dinners - so everyone knows that Doug cooks and who are the adventurous local eaters.
Our classmates are from France (an owner of a B&B in the Bordeaux, so contact us if you want a recommendation), Japan, Slovakia, Turkey, and India. Of course, everyone's English is excellent. One retiree from Australia seems to have dropped out, and a woman from India commutes between our class and another. We had to drop out early, b/c of our trip to Italy. But we look forward to reuniting with everyone in Bahasa II.
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| Noorita, teacher basu, on the right |
Our classmates are from France (an owner of a B&B in the Bordeaux, so contact us if you want a recommendation), Japan, Slovakia, Turkey, and India. Of course, everyone's English is excellent. One retiree from Australia seems to have dropped out, and a woman from India commutes between our class and another. We had to drop out early, b/c of our trip to Italy. But we look forward to reuniting with everyone in Bahasa II.
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