So the whole time I've been here, I've been trying to pay attention to my own language-learning process (not that I'm starting from scratch or anything...because I'm already at an advanced level), but more the process of becoming comfortable speaking, of being able to think on my feet and respond quicker, of bettering my pronunciation, of taking classes other than Spanish that are taught in Spanish, of adding to my vocabulary, of thinking in Spanish, etc.
Here's what I've noticed...
1. Becoming comfortable speaking the language did not take long...first, it was helpful to begin with someone I know (Paula) so I was a little less intimidated by the idea of conversing totally in Spanish. And second, when you want/need to communicate with someone who does not speak English...you do what you have to. Aka with my host senora and at the family gathering and even when asking for directions.
2. Many people compliment me on my ability to speak and on my pronunciation (even though in reality I do not pronounce all that well at all). Those first few compliments from people other than Paula really helped me gain confidence in my own speaking abilities.
3. When you like to talk, you will find a way to talk. I sure have! I've met many random sweet people this way (but I don't give out personal information for safety purposes even if they seem nice...you never know...)
4. In my Spanish courses, at first at least one of my professors seemed to be speaking very fast, but it only took a few classes for me to become accustomed to the accent here and to the speaking speeds and patterns of my professors.
5. It was hard for me to be here and not speak much Spanish because once I had spoken almost straight Spanish for 7 hours in a row at the family gathering, I was hooked. And then after I left Paula's, there were several weeks where I did not have that many opportunities to practice my Spanish. That was a bit discouraging.
6. Tutoring and my intercambio have helped tons with practicing Spanish and remembering to speak slowly in English when talking with someone who is not a native English-speaker.
7. Looking for a tutoring position also really helped improve my ability to accomplish what I needed to by phone...much harder than in person when you're speaking all Spanish.
8. Now that I speak plenty of Spanish each day between my professors, any time I'm out and about, my job, and once a week my intercambio, it is pretty easy for me to switch between the two, but I'll often throw in a word or two from the other language accidentally.
9. Because I speak about 60% English and 40% Spanish...almost half!! I have begun thinking in both languages. Part of this was because I have been actively trying to talk to myself (whenever I speak aloud to myself or say something in my head) in Spanish. Therefore I can think in both languages and will come up with the words in both languages for what I need to say relatively frequently. The real test is seeing if you dream in Spanish...but I don't usually remember my dreams...so this is hard to tell.
10. It's also automatic to say certain things in English or certain things in Spanish depending on the situation...I don't have to think about who I'm talking to...it just comes out. Unfortunately, it's easy to not pay attention to which language I'm speaking or which one someone is speaking to me as I now understand and can speak both and am able to switch between them with relative ease. (This is another reason it's hard to know if I dream in Spanish)
11. I have tried to say something in English with Spanish syntax at least once.
12. I can sometimes come up with the word I am looking for in Spanish faster than I can think of it in English...even during an English-only conversation. There have even been times where I could not find an English word I wanted (because there wasn't one or I just could not think of it) but knew exactly how to express what I wanted to get across in Spanish.
That's all for now...Maybe I'll add to this list later.\
Peace and Blessings,
Melanie
Spanish Words of the Day: entender = to understand, hablar = to speak, palabra = word, pensar = to think, lenguaje/lengua/idioma = language :)
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