Information Related to "... And Children Are From Pluto"
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A few years back a popular book said men and women can't communicate very well because men are from Mars and women are from Venus. It was an interesting concept that helped many people focus on the differences between men and women that affect how we relate to one another. The image of aliens from different planets was a powerful one, if too stereotypical. Still, anything we can do to help us understand each other is good.
Along the same lines, if men are from Mars and women are from Venus, sometimes it seems children are from Pluto-even harder to understand (consider the gross humor, the computerese, the strange music, etc.).
Sometimes kids seem too swayed by crass commercialism and materialism. (Marketers of products such as toys, clothing and music seem to know how to speak their language and push their buttons-but often they should be ashamed of themselves.) Other times young people seem to really see this world's problems and solutions more clearly than adults.
We can learn a lot from these creatures from Pluto. Jesus Christ took time for children, and even said we are to be like them. They are a gift, on loan from God. They really are out of this world!
But to learn from them, we must start by learning to communicate with them-learning their language.
I used to work for a company that published information about languages and technology. My shelves at work were filled with software to help people learn Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, Vietnamese-but nothing on Pluto.
The software contained audio, speech-recognition playback, full motion video, interactive sessions and games. There are many ideas about the best way to learn a language. But still the biggest factors are the desire of the student and the time spent listening and speaking. If you really want to understand these aliens from Pluto, you'll make progress.
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