17 Tevet
As I was getting Rivkah ready for bed last night she asked me why some grownups talk "funny". I asked her what she meant.
"Well, Sextus says his words funny and sometimes he says strange words and I don't know what they mean."
Apart from the occasional Roman or Greek at the market, Rivkah hasn't met many foreigners. It made me realise we need to make sure the children can get by in Greek and possibly even Latin. I grew up near a Roman settlement and all my family are at ease with other languages. Even so, I told Rivkah, I expect the Greeks and Romans think we speak funny too. This morning, I found her asking Sextus how to say things in his "funny words". She found it quite amusing. He speaks our tongue quite well, but he only learned it after coming to the Galil as an adult so I guess he'll always have a Roman accent. Most men around here are fluent in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. Many have Latin as well. They couldn't do business without Greek at least. With women it's usually a matter of need. Most of them can count and deal with money, but conversation is unnecessary so they rarely bother. Rabbi Moshe has offered Sextus Hebrew lessons so he can read Torah. I don't know if he is taking him up on it, but I know his main knowledge of Scripture is from the Greek they read on Shabbat in the Migdal synagogue
As I was getting Rivkah ready for bed last night she asked me why some grownups talk "funny". I asked her what she meant.
"Well, Sextus says his words funny and sometimes he says strange words and I don't know what they mean."
Apart from the occasional Roman or Greek at the market, Rivkah hasn't met many foreigners. It made me realise we need to make sure the children can get by in Greek and possibly even Latin. I grew up near a Roman settlement and all my family are at ease with other languages. Even so, I told Rivkah, I expect the Greeks and Romans think we speak funny too. This morning, I found her asking Sextus how to say things in his "funny words". She found it quite amusing. He speaks our tongue quite well, but he only learned it after coming to the Galil as an adult so I guess he'll always have a Roman accent. Most men around here are fluent in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. Many have Latin as well. They couldn't do business without Greek at least. With women it's usually a matter of need. Most of them can count and deal with money, but conversation is unnecessary so they rarely bother. Rabbi Moshe has offered Sextus Hebrew lessons so he can read Torah. I don't know if he is taking him up on it, but I know his main knowledge of Scripture is from the Greek they read on Shabbat in the Migdal synagogue
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