specialization

nathan observes people. there are many adults in israel who were not born here, he says.

many of his schoolmates don't speak hebrew at home. english, spanish, french, portuguese, russian...

ilan the mathematician will soon calculate how many were born here, how many were born elsewhere. he will subtract one from the other and tell us the result.

and in a few months he will give us the percentage per country...


aba david, 21/12/10

greek

nathan - i heard in schoool that 2 women were attacked by 2 greeks...

something like that was mentioned in the news. 2 women were stabbed by 2 arabs, one of them died.

poor kid. it is hard to keep track of the egyptians, of pharao, of the greeks, romans, germans, arabs.

if it happened right after chanuka, they must be greeks...


aba david, 19/12/10

1000

we are talking about metushelach, who lived nearly 1000 years.

somehow the question comes up - were you already alive 1000 years ago? - no, i say, i wasn't.

and jokingly i ask nathan the same question - were you already alive 1000 years ago?

he answers me, shocked - what, do you think i am 1000 years old? can't you see that i am a child?

aba david, 14/12/10

1000

estamos falando sobre metushelach, que viveu quase 1000 anos.

de alguma forma apareceu a pergunta - voce ja estava vivo faz mil anos? - nao, eu digo, eu nao estava.

e brincando, eu pergunto pro nathan a mesma pergunta - voce ja estava vivo faz 1000 anos?

ele me responde, chocado - o que, voce pensa que eu tenho 1000 anos? voce nao ve que eu sou uma crianca?

aba david, 14/12/10 

cheating

i am playing with nathan. we throw the ball to each other.

he counts points - how many times each one of us lets the ball drop.

suddenly i notice that nathan is cheating! he lets the ball drop from his hands on purpose so that i can score a point! he is letting me win!

i find this amusing. i already suspected that he cheats with ilan. they play soccer against each other and the score is often 9 x 8, sometimes in ilan's favor, sometimes in nathan's. and i am convinced that if they played seriously, nathan would beat ilan 10 x 1...

so now i am sure. as i catch him i question him and he confesses that he gave me the point on purpose.

i tell him - our loving cheater who wants to take care of everybody - that he doesn't need to do this. that i don't mind in the least if he wins!

embarrassed at having been caught red handed, he just says - no, it's not that. it's just that i like the score to be 6 x 6...


aba david, 08/12/10

roubo

estou jogando bola com o nathan. a gente joga a bola um pro outro.

ele conta pontos - quantas vezes cada um de nos deixa a bola cair.

de repente eu percebo que o nathan esta roubando! ele deixa a bola cair das suas maos de proposito, para que eu ganhe um ponto! ele esta me deixando vencer!

eu acho isso engracado. eu ja desconfiava que ele rouba com o ilan. eles jogam futebol um contra o outro e o resultado e frequentemente 9 x 8, as vezes a favor do ilan, as vezes a favor do nathan. e eu tenho certeza que se eles jogassem de verdade, o nathan ganharia do ilan de 10 x 1...

pois agora eu tenho certeza. 


quando eu o pego roubando eu o questiono e ele confessa que me deu o ponto de proposito.

eu lhe digo - ao nosso ladrao carinhoso que quer cuidar de todo mundo - que ele nao precisa fazer isso. que eu nao me importo nem um pouco se ele me derrota!

embaracado que eu o peguei em flagrante, ele so diz - nao, nao e isso. e simplesmente que eu gosto quando o resultado esta 6 x 6...


aba david, 08/12/10

math

ilan is our mathematician.

the boys are 6 years and 4 months old. they are in first grade.

he doesn't yet know how to read everything. he hasn't yet learned all the 'signs' in hebrew.

he hasn't yet learned multiplication. he doesn't know how much is 2 x 4, but he knows how much is 2+2+2+2..., many times...

we arrive at their school in the morning. we always look at the time when we arrive, on the clock on the wall of the municipality, which is next door to their school. we are always trying to break our record and to arrive earlier. our earliest time so far is 7.40.

i look at the clock and tell them - it is 14 minutes to 8. - they don't know how to read the clock but they know that the first ring of the bell is at 5 to 8.

ah, says ilan, so we have 10 minutes until the first ring. - and after a few seconds - no, we have 9 minutes. right aba?

very good! - i exclaim, impressed. - how did you know?

ilan dismisses me - ah, not important...

but after a few seconds he he decides to let me in on his reasoning. - 14 minus 4 is 10. so 14 minus 5 is one less, so it is 9.

beautiful reasoning! how many adults are this comfortable with numbers???


aba david, 02/12/10