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The Spirit of Play ...continued What
if you are not planning on taking a foreign language class and you still
want to tap into the “Spirit of Play?”
You could sign up for a theater improvisation class, watch funny
movies or TV shows, take up Jazzercise, or read funny books. I have a better
suggestion for you! And it’s free! Play with your family! My
family is full of very creative people. We love to laugh and have fun when
we’re together-except that we live in different parts of the country. My
parents are retired in Florida after being missionaries in Brazil. Like me,
my brother and sister are married and have two children each. I live in
Minnesota, my brother lives in Virginia, and my sister lives in Florida near
my parents. One
year I decided that we should have a family reunion. After much planning,
fourteen of us met at a lodge in the Shenendoah Mountains of Virginia. As we
drove into the parking lot of our resort and greeted each other with big
hugs, my sister announced that all of us were expected to put on skits on
our last night. She added that her family had already begun rehearsing! Coincidentally,
there was a small stage and amphitheater in front of the lodge. The show
that we put on for each other was filled with hilarity, songs, dancing,
poetry, and skits. My sister’s family did a finger-snapping, lip-sync and
dancing rendition of “We are Family,” and at the end, invited the rest
of us on stage to join in the dancing. Then my brother’s family did a skit
that had us all rolling in the aisles. They had gone to Universal Studios
and learned how to slap and punch (pretending) so they did a Nazi general
routine complete with German accent about why their children were so well
behaved. My family wore crazy clothing, played kazoos and did silly
movements accompanied by a music tape called “Doot Doodley Doo.” My
mother recited a funny poem she had learned in elocution class as a child.
Finally, my father, who had never sung a solo in all the years we’d known
him, sang something he said he had been wanting to sing all those years, but
we kids would always burst out laughing when he opened his mouth. He made us
promise not to laugh. For once we didn’t obey! That
was the first of many reunions. One year later for my parent’s 50th
anniversary we all went to the beach for a weekend, and staged a Grand Ball
in our condominium living room. We played Strauss music, and waltzed around
the room wearing New Year’s Eve paper hats, pearls, long gloves, or bow
ties and cummerbunds with our shorts. My brother and his wife performed a
knee-slapping, laugh-til-you-cry skit of memories of my parent’s years in
Brazil as missionaries. My husband and I designed and printed a daily
gazette with photos from the past, silly want ads, and a complete list of
nonsensical activities as a parody of a cruise ship schedule: Kissing on the
Beach, Tofu and Chocolate Tasting by the Pool, Romance Breakfast. At the
end, my sister presented a musical slide show with memories from the past
that had us crying tears of love and emotion. Then
there was the year my husband and I rented and dressed up in chicken suits
and met my sister’s family at the Minneapolis airport as they were passing
through. We walked through the airport clucking loudly and greeting everyone
in sight. A
few days before my mother’s 75th birthday I flew to Florida and
showed up on her doorstep with my sister. We were wearing wigs, messy makeup
with bright red lipstick, and tacky outfits. When she answered the doorbell,
I stammered with a fake foreign accent “My carrr is brreeaking down,
please to use your telofon?” She looked fearful, refused to let us in, and
just as she was closing the door, I pleaded, “Pleesse, mam, I hef some
apples forr you from Minnesota!” and handed her a bag of apples from
Minnesota-her favorite annual birthday treat. We had a delightful visit and
I left, supposedly for a conference in Miami. In actuality I went to my
sister’s home in a nearby city, and then a few days later, we returned to
my Mom’s. First we picked up my brother at the airport then I was dropped
off at a gas station. My sister went to pick up my mother in her van, “to
buy dinner,” and my brother hopped out and sneaked into the back yard
while my mother was getting into the van.
My brother picked up my dad, put on costumes, and drove to a local
convenience store. My sister then stopped at the gas station where I was
waiting, dressed in jeans, a cap, and a pencil-line mustache drawn over my
lip. As my mother and sister pulled into the station, I came over and began
cleaning the windshield. My mother never even noticed me, until I started
wiping the windshield with my sleeve. That caught her attention, so I walked
to her side of the window and asked, with a Southern accent, “’Mam, do
you want me to clean yore glasses?” She recognized me and exclaimed, “I
thought you went to Miami!” I climbed into the van. A few minutes later we
spotted the convenience store and I announced I needed to get some bottled
water.” There, in front of
the store, were two strange figures, a hippie with sunglasses, a long black
curly wig and a Hawaiian shirt, and a Franciscan priest in a brown hooded
robe, and a fluffy white beard. My sister and I jumped out and joined the
two as they turned their sign, “We will work for food” to read, “Happy
Birthday, Mom,” and we three all started playing the birthday song on
kazoos. My mom declared that to be her favorite birthday in 75 years! Our
last family reunion was in Minneapolis, where I live, and included a couple
who had flown up from Brazil. The husband is like the son my parents almost
adopted when they were missionaries. As
each group arrived at the airport, my husband and I greeted them in funny
hats, wigs, and Groucho glasses. We passed out similar outfits for each
arriving group to wear to greet the next group. Our laughter brightened
other passengers’ faces as they passed by. What would it take for you to put that sense of discovery, laughter, silliness, play,
imagination, into your work place, your community, your home, marriage, or
your family? How about buying coloring books or blank sheets of paper, and
crayons or markers, and spending an extra few minutes after dinner just
drawing and coloring? Why not have a skit night, or a night when everyone
dresses up as a favorite character in a book, video, or movie? Or put on
funny hats, wigs, or glasses when you go out to the store, and wave to
everyone who notices you! Create the Spirit of Play in your life!
You will be richly rewarded.
Author Arlene Jullie, is the author of the new book Quick-Start Spanish: Everything You Need to Know Before You Start or Restart Spanish. It is the opportunity for anyone interested in Spanish or in how languages are different from English to sing, color, draw, play games, laugh, and have fun while discovering the secrets of Spanish. The warning on the back cover says: “This book will not teach you Spanish! But it will decode the Spanish language, giving you access to secrets that will help you learn Spanish more easily… It is an invaluable aid for anyone who is about to start a Spanish class or a self-study program; for anyone who has already begun and is feeling totally lost; or for anyone who has tried to learn the language before and is apprehensive about restarting.”
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FIRE-UP
Your Learning
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FIRE-UP
Your Teaching Teachers Guide and Lesson Plans for FIRE-UP Your Learning By Thomas L. Madden, M.A
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 Language Programs the best in early second language learning. Available in Spanish, French, ESL and more upon request.
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