Living in South America, learning Spanish is a must. We have been here for 15 months and while we have learned a lot of words, we're still at the "Look at Jane run. Jump, Spot, jump." level (yes, we are pre-schoolers when it comes to Spanish).We took two weeks of classes and felt like our heads were exploding and have backed off a little and are trying to at least learn a new word a week. Grammar and verb tense will come in another year or two.
But something has happened during this process. We have found much more empathy for those immigrants in the US trying to learn English. We laugh and make jokes about the Mexicans who listen intently, nod their heads and enthusiastically tell you, "Si, si!"
Well, now we are those immigrants, listening intently to a conversation, trying to pick up a word or two for context, nodding our heads as we enthusiastically agree, "Si, si!"
Sigh....why didn't we learn a second language when we were young? It would have been MUCH easier.
I had trouble communicating with my limited Spanish when we were in Nicaragua on a mission trip. My aussie accent makes it even harder as my pronunciation is off. One day I would love to learn and speak the language properly.
ReplyDeleteSean at His and Her Hobbies
Si, SI Senora ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhen we first arrived, we often relied on friends with good Spanish skills. You do what you have to do. ;)
ReplyDeleteWe have several Brit friends here and they have the same issue!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! ;)
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