Posted on by Sarah Johnson

Everybody Is A Teacher

Now that we live in Indonesia, I really want to learn the language so I can communicate with everyone and make lots of new friends. I have learned that everybody is a teacher! Even though I do not know the language I have been able to make a few friends already. Two of my new friends come from a family in the church of Christ at Darmawangsa. Yosua is a boy and he is almost 6 years old. His 2 year old sister is named Ester. We have spent a lot of time with this family and I have become friends with the kids.

I have gotten to play with Ester and when she talks and I ask my Mom what she is saying she is “teaching” me Indonesian. Another way I am learning is through pictures. When I play with Ester sometimes she points to a picture of something and says the Indonesian word for it. I have a game on my iPod that has a picture of a cat on it so Ester touched it and said “kucing”, which is the word for cat. Another time, she pointed to a rabbit on her shorts and said, “kelinci”, the word for rabbit.

Sarah and Ester

I have learned a lot of words from Ester and I have enjoyed playing with her. It is funny how even a two-year-old little girl can become a great language teacher! I am learning Indonesian little by little. Someday I will know the language really well and I will remember Ester as one of my first language “teachers.” I have learned that when you are learning a new language, everyone is a teacher, whether they are 2 years old or 50!

Question: Who has been an unexpected teacher in your life? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

4 Replies to “Everybody Is A Teacher”

  1. What a cool thought and post, Sarah! I think my own kids have been some of the teachers I have been most surprised by. There was a kid who treated my son badly on one of his first days at a new school… so I did not think much of that kids. I said something much later about him not being one of my favorite kids and my son was actually the one who defended him! I hope we never stop learning lessons worthy of being taught, even if the teacher is unexpected.

  2. Sarah,
    I am so happy that you are learning the language little by little. It is awesome that you are learning from a 2 year old. I’m excited to read more of your posts and hear how you are doing in Indonesia. We are all doing well in Utah.
    Dina

Comments are closed.