Learning Spanish: Poco a poco.

Now that we are down to our final month here in South America, we have been forced to recon with the progression of our Spanish skills. It has been quite humbling learning a new language. It can be so frustrating when you want to express yourself but don't have the words to do it.

That said, we have made a great deal of progress since we first arrived. We have been taking lessons with a private instructor for about 4 hours per week, 2 hours at a time. Our teacher, Marcia, is actually a full time English teacher at a local Colegio (high school), and she has taken this task on,in addition to getting her masters degree. She is truly a busy woman so we have been thankful to have her undivided attention.

Marcia , our Spanish teacher. She's actually not nearly as serious as she looks. 

So how much have we learned? If you measure from where we started to where we have gotten, it's impressive. If you consider where we are and where we would like to be in order to be fluent speakers, it's humbling. Ordering food is no problem, the bank is a breeze, and casual encounters are usually ok as well. And, of course, we have most of the travel lingo down pat (transportation, hotel rooms, shopping). Well, CNN is a bit too technical to understand, depending on the topic. Radio is difficult to keep up with. Phone calls in Spanish can be a bit tricky, even with people we know. The most difficulties arise in discussing details and technical points, especially in tenses other than the present, past or future. Spanish has way too many verb tenses!!!   And, how easily we can converse largely depends on who we are speaking with. For example, many native Lojano's speak very clearly, but when we encounter people from the coast or people that speak rapidly, it can be challenging to comprehend everything. At least we now get the gist! Certainly, one more year and we are confident that we would be speaking fluently.

So, we have been stocking up on children's books, and we have a stockpile of bootleg movies to continue our studies when we get back. We have heard that language is one thing that fades fast if you don't keep practicing. Use it or lose it! So we'll do our best.