Swirling Thoughts #143 – as I try to grasp new words Rosie struggles to hold on to old ones

Rhymes with chutzpah
Every day I learn a new word. I mean, I hear about a hundred new words but then one of them will be a word I recognize because I’ve heard it before so I’ll just stop whoever’s talking and ask them what that particular word means.

Yesterday it was ‘tamshiki’ – continue. As in, ‘nu, continue with your ulpan, lady.’

Fitting, as I continue to break my teeth on this language. Today’s accomplishments in cave-man Hebrew include rescheduling a dentist appointment, calling Asher’s school to have them remind him of a doctor’s appointment, and making calls to my Israeli (as opposed to my American) neighbors, selling Chinese Auction tickets for the kids’ school. It’s impressive only in comparison to where I started (smiling pretty in the bank, remember?).

I cannot for the life of me keep straight kvutzah (group), chultzah (shirt), and kuftzah (box). Tomorrow I will drop off Bob’s chultzot to be ironed but when I spoke to the ironing lady, I informed her I’d be dropping off his boxes. I ledaber (speak) things when I am supposed to l’omer (say) them. I turn women into men at every turn – except for when I am turning men into women. Everything I say takes place in the present tense even if it took place in the past. So lately my kids have been correcting me. Yishavti. I sat. Choshavti. I thought. Shechachti. I forgot. And so it goes. For me, anyway.

Excited utterances
Rosie’s still tossing out random tidbits about yesterday’s tiyul. But yesterday’s events took place in Hebrew. So I’m getting information like:
On the autoboos we sang shirim!
And:
I was zug with Liat! Pelly was zug with Boaz! Ahuva was zug with Neely!

I was making pancakes while she was telling me this. Then she asked if it the pancake in the pan was the achron.
The achron?
Yes. Is that the achron?
What is achron?
Silence.
Rosie – are you asking if it’s the last one?
Yes.

And suddenly there was an astonishing admission:
Ima. I’m forgetting some words in English.
What words, Rosie?
Oznayim.
For real?
For real, Ima.
You don’t know how to say oznayim in English?
No, Ima.
Oznayim are ears, Rosie.
Oh, yeah. Ears. I forgot.

Thank Gd I know what oznayim are. What will I do when she starts forgetting words I don’t know? Maybe I need to start learning two new words a day.