Speaking with a Native Spanish Speaker

Today, I had the opportunity to talk to a young lady form Guatemala for an hour or so, and it's great applying your skills in Spanish to someone whose ONLY language is Spanish, and who has very little propensities towards English. It's a great feeling to know that you're bridging the gap between two cultures, and automatically you are more worldly because of that.

Many of you don't know me personally, just through Skype lessons and web cams. However, I am not a native speaker of Spanish. I was first introduced to a Spanish-speaker (my good buddy Rogelio) in the fourth grade, when I was knee-high to a grasshopper. He didn't speak a word of English, but our friendship grew over time and I picked up words here and there, as well as basic phrases and idioms, in order to help us communicate. Likewise, I reciprocated and taught him several things about English as well.

It was about the sixth grade that the State of California introduced a foreign language class in its junior high schools. It started off as experimental curriculum, but alas, it was doomed to fail in the coming years. However, I was one of the lucky ones and got to take Spanish in the 6th grade, as well as the 7th, 8th, and, well, you know where that's headed. The rest is history! My buddy Rogelio was learning English pretty damn fast, but I wasn't learning Spanish as fast; so, I set out to discover the reason.

It seems that good old "Ro" was forced to speak English because that was the "de facto" language in his surroundings. I thought to myself that if it could work for him, it'll work for me. So guess what...I spent a lot of time at the old boy's house; playing video games, eating meriendas, and watching TV while his Mom would constantly holler at us from the kitchen "¿Tienen hambre?"

So, I noticed over the coming years that I was gradually pulling ahead of the rest of the Spanish learners, simply because I chose to immerse myself in the language and the culture (and Ro's video games helped too). In the coming years, I would choose more adult pursuits, such as visiting Mexico several times, soaking up the sun as well as the Spanish. Everywhere there were Spanish speakers, there I was talking to them just for conversation.

The point of my rambling is to inform you that the BEST way to start speaking a language is to start talking; just because someone speaks a different language from you doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. In fact, the vast majority of Spanish speakers will think that it's great you are making an effort to try communicating with them in their own language, that they will love to give you some pointers and feedback. They are merely human beings as well, and they enjoy social interactions as much as you probably do. Try to take the time to meet people, and get to know them. You'll be surprised at what you might learn!

Sigue estudiando,

Professor Joel