French and Ukelele Learning Update

Learning French again is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I am working in a workbook I bought from Amazon after Christmas. It is set up to help people learn in 30 days, but I have to do it a bit differently because of my schedule. I am working on French 2 days a week for now. Once I get into the swing of things with one of my commitments, I will hopefully be able to work on it at least 3 days a week. Right now, it is kicking my butt, though. It's a bit discouraging to know that I used to know this stuff and not be able to access that information in my brain any longer. I know that the lessons I am doing were spanned over about a week when I was in school, and now I am trying to cram it into one evening. I'm doing it, but I have to go back sometimes because I know I didn't learn everything I needed to the first time. Thankfully, I unlocked some bonus materials by finishing the first chapter and will be able to practice with some recordings and flash cards. I think this workbook is going to take me at least the first quarter of the year to get through. Then, I will decide where to go from there. My plan is to get to the point where I can read the Book of Mormon in French. 

I knew learning the Ukelele would be hard. I have learned a few songs a while back when I got my ukelele (when Sean was still in school), but that has been too long. I am starting all over on this subject, too. Chad gave me a book for Christmas to help with this goal. Most of it has been how to pick one out and how to tune it. I read it, but I already have one and have the app to help me tune it. I have also been reading a book about the history of the ukelele from the library that I have to finish this weekend so I can return it. I am working on this two nights a week as well and may need to add another day, too. A few nights ago, I finally got to the chapter about chords and learned the first one. Today, I veered off my plan a bit and found the YouTube videos I was learning from back in 2021 or 2022 and spent about an hour learning "You are My Sunshine" and "Riptide." I still need to get better at my strumming and the G cord to move on to the next lesson, but I know I can do this. My goal is to have at least 6 songs that I can play well and have memorized. 

Learning New Things

Last week, I watched a YouTube video about developing a personal curriculum. The idea is that people are meant to continually learn throughout our lives. We don't have to follow a curriculum set by a school and pay the money required to do so. We can learn about anything from the resources provided by the library and online. After watching this, I got so excited that I sent the link to my husband and my sister. Chad texted me back a little while later asking me what I wanted to learn and when I wanted to get started. I decided that I want to relearn French and finally learn how to play the ukelele. 

I learned French in middle school and high school. I knew enough that my friend and I used to speak to each other in French when we didn't want my boyfriend (her friend) to know what we were talking about. They were simple conversations, but it was fun at the time. I wouldn't say I was fluent, but I was on my way there. Since then, I have not used French at all except a few phrases here and there. Because of this, I have lost almost all of the knowledge that I had in this subject. It is one of my biggest regrets. I am determined to relearn as much as I can over the next year. 

Me wanting to learn to play the Ukelele came about in a slightly odd way. In 2021, Chad and I were on our way to church, listening to the radio, when John Tesch chimed in with his "Intelligence for Your Life" segment. This one was about the power of music. I don't remember everything he said, but I do remember that he said the ukelele was the easiest instrument to learn. For Mother's Day that year, I asked for a purple ukelele and got one. I learned to play a few songs that summer, but I haven't played it since. I am going to learn more about it and learn more songs this year. Maybe I can be as musical as my kids. Who knows? 

Of course, we will continue the learning paths we have been on for the last few years. We have a concrete plan for our spiritual learning together. It is the actual curriculum provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, "Come, Follow Me." We have worked on it off and on separately and together every year since it started. We have committed with each other to study it each night we are home. I think this will elevate our spiritual study and bring us closer together. We, also, will continue to read our ever-growing pile of lifestyle/self-help books/biographies. Our interests haven't changed. We just want to have more directed learning. 

I'm excited to get started on learning and relearning skills that I have wanted to work on for a while. This coming year will be my year to do so!