Speaking More, Reading More

I´ve been studying Spanish for a little more than two months, and I´m pleased to report that I´m making some progress. Over the past month or so, I´ve felt myself becoming a bit more comfortable with the language. I´m happily past the point of just getting by, and I´m now able to hold long conversations. There may be words I want to say that I don´t know, or I may mix up my endings, or attempt grammatical structures I don´t know how to use, or make other errors, but I am generally able to make myself understood. Not a bad feeling.

This is the result of much studying and practice: I took classes for three weeks at the Casa de Cultura here in León, then studied on my own every day by borrowing two Spanish textbooks. When I finished with those, I made long lists of things to remember. But perhaps most importantly, I´ve had the daily practice of living in this country.

And here comes the fun part: It´s hard to maintain one´s motivation when swatting at a textbook or in four hour Spanish session. It´s much more fun to simply have conversations with people, or to read a book or newspaper. And that´s what I´m doing now. I´ve got a bunch of Nica friends from work and school and other places in the city. Last week I went out on a date and we spoke two hours--entirely in Spanish! I´ve also borrowed a young adult novel from one of my schools and am slowly making my way through that. It´s a story about a caveman who refuses to hunt and becomes a vegetarian because he believes killing is wrong: seriously. It´s much more enjoyable to learn this way--by making friends and reading stories.

So perhaps I speak Spanish now, but poorly. I´ve still got a long way to go to where I want to be; indeed I wouldn´t even consider myself conversant yet. I´ve got more time still. And each day it gets easier, and more enjoyable, to learn this language with my new friends here.