Like many a public school kid, I had the requisite classes in either A. Spanish or B. French – these being my only choices in the late 70s/early 80s. I choice French. And like many, I picked up a bit of fluency for reading and a bit for hearing and mangled alot of words when speaking. It was fun, but it was just a requirement and I dropped it as soon as They let me.
Being older, and having lived in California for 30 years now, I’m actually annoyed that I only speak English. It seems a very limited world view thing so sometime pre-pandemic I set up a DuoLingo account, tried it and promptly wandered off. It just did not work in my head. (The fact that I tried to learn Spanish and Gaelic at the same time might have complicated things a bit.) (I know, right?) (go fig).
Late last year I decided to try again, Spanish only. And this time something clicked. I had fun! and I was learning! So I upgraded to a paid account and have never looked back. (I am currently on a 140 day streak woot!)
I’m starting to notice bits of Spanish in my daily life – not much and not even conversationally – but words here and there, meanings and ah ha! moments. And its fun. And I’m having fun.
I thing I did not expect when learning Spanish however was that it would help me understand the parts of English better.*
Or, that and just how informal English really is. No wonder folks from around the world look at us with many many raised eyebrows.
(*I never really learned what all the “parts” of a sentence were/meant – I just nod and smile when people talk about them. 🙂 )
(**Which also means I’m pulling my hair out half the time trying to REMEMBER to add “el/la” in places I’m not used to or using the formal “usted” for the appropriate person. )
It’s all fascinating and cool and I’m enjoying tasting the tip of the iceberg. I am also marveling that we ever get all the bits of language crammed into our heads, let alone more than one language! I’ve always been impressed by folks who speak more than one language – now I’m WAY more impressed. this shit is wild and wonderful and ow… my head hurts.