[Sanford News] Evaluation #1

Hi again everyone,

It has been a few weeks since our first language evaluation and some of you
have asked how that went so I thought I would send a little update on that.
First things first though - many of you have been praying for rain for us
and your prayers were answered. We have had 2-3 really hard rains and our
tank is filled all the way up. We also were able to buy a diesel water pump
and us guys built a shed and installed the pump down by our spring. We just
need to run the pipe now and we will always have a backup plan when we get
low on water. So thanks for praying for water! Your prayers for water were
pretty effective so maybe we can shift those prayers to language learning
now! (nice transition huh)

So about 2 weeks ago we had our first formal language evaluation. We have
been in full time language study for about 3 months and that is the mark for
getting our first evaluation. The main purpose is to make sure that we are
making good strides and starting to get a handle on what is the most
effective way to learn. So our consultant came and went around the village
with us to see what we were able to do in the language and he found out that
Kar is doing great and I am a bit "special" when it comes to language
learning. No it wasn't bad at all and once it was finished, he charted our
progress and said that we were at "Basic Level - Mid". What this basically
means is that we can communicate at a word level and also starting to
progress into putting together meaningful phrases. Yeah I know what you're
thinking - basically we talk like a 2 year old. "Momma!" - "Food" - "Happy"
- "Can I eat this?" - that is basically where we are at. In learning
language it's this basic vocabulary and phrases that form the building
blocks for moving into more meaningful speech. So all things considered, I
think we are progressing well but there is still so much ahead of us. We
were encouraged and were also given a lot ideas for how to move ahead
effectively.

Our next evaluation is in 6 months and it will be much more intense and will
take longer. We hope to at least be freely talking in full sentences at
that point (so then we can sound like a preschooler).

We want to thank you all so much for your faithful prayers and support as we
work thru this. It is so hard for us to communicate effectively how
thankful we are for your part in this work, but I trust that the reward you
will receive for it will be much greater than my "thank you". Just know
that we are grateful for it and couldn't go on without it!

Later...

Lane & Karrie Sanford
New Tribes Mission - New Ireland Province
lane_sanford@ntm.org