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Katalina was smiling a little - a pleased one this time, rather than just amused. "A little better," she told him. "I could work out what you meant to say this time. Do you want to try a basic sentence? It's a little tougher, because you need to add influences to your voice based on whether it's a question or a statement, but I think you could probably do it if you tried."

And he would try, there was no question about that. It was obvious that he wanted to learn - and it would certainly give him an edge if he decided he wanted to go on in his travels and meet other creatures, including clans that perhaps would not be able to speak to him in his own tongue.

"What do you want to try first? A question or a sentence?" inquired Katalina. "It's hard to explain how it should sound without doing it for you." She smiled shyly. "Try this," she began. She closed her eyes and spoke slowly and smoothly in her own tongue. It was a short sentence, but clear. At the end, it had an odd wavery quality, as though she were unsure of the last word or two. Opening her eyes again, she said, "That's what a question should sound like. Try it."

"It was pretty close," said Katalina cheerfully. "You need a bit of a stronger waver, but you had the words almost right. The question was very basic - I think in your tongue it would be something along the lines of 'How long have you lived in our motherland?'" She smiled. "'Motherland' is one of our terms for the ocean," she explained. "So although it might mean 'ocean', it could also mean 'home' or 'home place'."

She decided she liked teaching him. He was so eager to do it right that it was just a pleasure to show him how. Perhaps if she had a less willing pupil it wouldn't be as much fun, but for now she really enjoyed it.

Katalina's eyes brightened. "That was it, right there. Do that again, so that we know that that wasn't just a fluke," she said with a grin. "Practice is a good thing." She repeated that sentence in her own tongue, figuring he might want to hear it. The more he could learn, the easier it would make this - all ocean languages were closely related, which was why most speaking mercreatures could understand each other. She figured she would save that little bit of news for when Joshua could understand enough to follow a basic conversation.

Katalina chuckled when Joshua stumbled over his words. She was pleased to see how excited he was, especially since she'd never really thought of her language as something to be excited about. "Good," she said lightly. "Now we know there's one thing you can definitely say."

"I was just repeating myself in my own tongue," she replied when he asked what the second sentence had been. "Basically, practice is good. Of course, not everything in your language can be interpreted, and vice versa, but it's a good beginning. Is there anything in particular you want to learn how to say, as a real start?"

"There are definitely formalities," said Katalina immediately, smiling a little. "There aren't any gestures, unless you're greeting a stranger of very high ranking - that would be the leader and his or her children, the chosen future leader if there is one, and the children of the future leader, particularly if one of them has been chosen to follow in their parent's footsteps." She made a sweet, almost singing sound, drawing it out slightly, and paired it with a hand placed just where her heart was. "That would be a very formal greeting for someone highly ranked, like I told you before." Making a higher, slightly sharper sound, she said, "That's less formal, but for someone you don't know well - strangers and recent acquaintances."

She studied her hands and made another sound - more mellow and friendly - after a moment. "That one is for friends and family. That would be the one you would most likely use if you were to greet me in our tongue." Then she grinned a bit. "I don't think you'll ever use this last, but you might as well know it." She made a last sound. It was a lovely sound, soft and full of warmth. "That one is supposedly also for very close friends, but I've never heard anyone use it in any other way than to greet a lover." She smiled and shrugged.

"Try repeating them to me, and tell me who you would greet using each one."

"You have all the meanings right," replied Katalina with a smile. "But you need to work on the formal ones. But you're right - the third and fourth ones are the nicest, I think." When he asked his question, she frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then shook her head. "No, you would address me as you would a friend, I think. That particularly formal one is meant for strangers. Once they are friends, you can address them as such - but for people of that rank, you should wait until they address you that way first. Just to be safe."

She grinned. "Now, you don't get out of trying that last one even if you never use it in practice. Think how impressed your lady humans will be. Show me how it's done, Joshua."