After 10 years of studying Spanish in school (middle & high school, plus college), 6 months studying abroad in Spain (2 months in high school and 4 months in college) and 2 years living in Mexico I can finally speak and write Spanish fluently. One would think after all this time I would have been fluent years ago. I guess with patience and a bit of perseverance almost anything is possible. It gives hope to some of my friends who struggle with the language that they too can learn Spanish after a decade of practice!
Granted my Spanish skills and accent are not perfect. I frequently make errors or use wrong words and verb tenses. However, I can sit down and watch a Spanish movie and understand most all of it. In conversations I can both communicate my ideas with ease and understand the words of others. So for the most part Spanish to me has become rather simple.
One especially interesting aspect is that I am now forgetting certain words in English. Take surge protector, for example. Since our business is in property management, and we are consistently making sure all our
Playa del Carmen condos and villas are outfitted with surge protectors ("interruptor" in Spanish). Since I say interruptor so frequently my brain requires a bit of time to come up with the word in English. Another example is...wait while I think of the word...electrical outlet. In Spanish it's called contacto. In English I am now calling it contact, and even in this blog entry I had to rack my brain to think of electrical outlet.
A similar experience occurred when I studied abroad in Spain in college. After a week of living with a family in Barcelona, I struggled to remember English. It was as if that part of my brain had completely disconnected. Another comical experience is when Allan and I return home to the US on vacation. For the first couple of days we wind up speaking Spanish to anyone who looks non-white, say Indian or Chinese, and works in either a convenience store or restaurant. I guess in Mexico we are so used to speaking Spanish at such locations to non-white looking people, our brain is just doing as it's been trained.
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| Diane relaxes at XCacel Beach |
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| Allan and Marge at XCacel Beach |
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| Allan shares his kite with 2 kids |
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| Allan, Mary Lou and I at Playacar Phase 1's Beach |
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| The beach at Playacar Phase 1 |
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| Sailing Ship |
4 comments:
Xcacel beach is beautiful. Although the first time I was there .. a young boy came out of the jungle and stole one of our backpacks! Nothing of real value, but still .. it was upsetting. I have been back and carefully watched our belongings.
I'm sorry to hear about the bag. Unfortunately it is not surprising in Xcacel or Playa for that matter. We love Xcacel!!
10 years in middle school! Gives new meaning to the term 'held back'...
HA HA HA LOL that was 10 years in school combined.
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