Keep Nimble

 How was your March Break?

What did you do on your March Break?

These are the questions I might face when I return from the week away from school. 

I can't say that it was particularly exciting. The time away was helpful and useful. I got caught up on providing feedback and tracking all the submitted assignments for my various AQ courses I teach. I took my parents to get a haircut and buy new shoes. I visited a colleague who will be retiring on Monday, March 17. (Congratulations Judy! Thank you for your many years of service to the school board!) I met with some friends for drinks. 

Two things of note that I also did:

1) I went to the gym three times this week.

2) I attended a Zoom meeting for the various chapters of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance.

Both of these events reminded me that it's important to be linguistically and physically nimble.

Physically Nimble

I don't enjoy going to the gym. I don't get the boost of adrenaline from exerting myself to the limit. I don't have the satisfied exhaustion after a particularly challenging workout. I don't see the results of my efforts like my husband does. (He's probably in the best shape he's ever been, despite his age.) I don't get a thrill from beating my PR (personal records). It's also been a very busy February and March and events have prevented me from attending my usual Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday CrossFit sessions at the gym. However, I see the need for regular exercise. This week, I had the time to return to my regularly scheduled three times a week visits to the gym. I'm sore but it was necessary.

The words of one of my favourite coaches echoes in my ears. One day, I was bemoaning the need to go to the gym, and he replied that I didn't have to go to the gym. He said that I am an adult and I can quit anytime BUT I need to find something to replace it with to keep me active. It doesn't have to be CrossFit, but it has to be some sort of exercise. I can stop working out when my body doesn't allow me to do it anymore. (It's a blessing to be able to walk, run, lift and stretch. Many people lose these abilities when they get older.) These weren't comforting words, but they made sense. This is why I still keep going. I am not intrinsically motivated enough to go on my own to a gym and shape my own workouts. I need a class, a workout buddy (my husband), and a coach to guide and encourage me to complete the task properly. 

Linguistically Nimble

I am Canada's representative on UNESCO's MIL Alliance for North America and Europe. On Friday, we had a meeting with members from two other chapters - Africa as well as Latin America and the Caribbean. It was quite humbling to see how many different countries were represented at this meeting.

Because we had a large contingent from certain regions of Africa, there was a need to converse in English and French. Bilingual countries like Belgium and Canada were asked to help out.

It was, at this moment, that I truly wished that I had kept up my French studies. My French is passable, but not great. I was very thankful that Pierre and others were able to assist to a greater extent. 

I've written about my French-speaking abilities on this blog before, when I mentioned my 25th anniversary trip to Quebec City, and driving around Montreal for a short day trip. It truly is unfortunate that it was a single university professor that ended my French learning journey. There are so many benefits to being bilingual. Many people on the call were multilingual. It will take quite a bit of effort to get my French abilities back up to where I'd like them to be, and time is at a premium for me. (I'm starting another AQ as a student this coming week!) If you don't use it, you lose it, so keep speaking all the languages you know. It also challenges me to devote more time to crafting my ESL lessons so that it encourages the use of English but not at the expense of the students primary languages.