After Almost Two Years, I'm Still Struggling!
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| Learning Spanish Feels Like Getting this Burro to Move! |
We've lived in México for almost two years now and I'm still struggling to put a full sentence together in Spanish! It's like trying to get the stubborn burro to move in the bronze sculpture show above, 'Andale Bernardo' in Puerto Vallarta's Lazaro Cardenas Park. That burro is never going to move, no matter how hard the boys and dog push and pull! Will I never speak Spanish fluently? What is my excuse for not being able to carry on even a simple conversation yet?
I don't think I'm alone in this struggle to learn a second language. Quite a few other people from the United States and Canada tell me they also have trouble learning the native language here in México. Some are expats who live here year around. Many live in México for the winter six months and return to their home north of the border for the summer. That's plenty of time to grasp a significant number of Spanish words and phrases!
To be honest, I know lots of names of things. I can order my meals and drinks in restaurants, with help from a menu written in Spanish, of course. I can understand numbers when they are spoken (most of the time) and I know the Mexican currency well enough to handle paying for my meal or groceries. I can even ask where to find items including cuts of meat, vegetables and fruit, queso (cheese), leche (milk), totopos (corn chips) and most other things in the grocery store or pharmacy. Luckily, much of the Spanish language is spoken with fewer words than English. I have mastered the sentence, "Do you have granola?"--"Tiene granola?" That one is easy! Even I can handle two word sentences at the grocery store!
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Limones, Pepinos, Tomates, Papas, Cebollas, Zanahorias, I've Got Those!
But, my Spanish is very poor and not getting better. I have "10 Excuses for Not Learning to Speak Spanish Fluently" after living here for two years. I use one or two of these whenever the situation calls for it:
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| Cooling Off at the Beach in Puerto Vallarta |
1. It's Too Hot to Learn Anything! This excuse only works from about June 1 through October 31, but I used it to drop out of Spanish class last June. I had stuck it out for two months though, attending a one-hour class twice a week, and I have the notebook and hundreds of flashcards to show for it! But, June, July, and August are pretty hot in Mexico. Cooling off at the beach usually wins over practicing Spanish this time of year!
2. Most of the Waiters at the Restaurants Speak English so I Don't Need to Learn Spanish! This is one of the quirkiest things I've observed in México. When we speak to the waiters in restaurants, we greet them in Spanish and we order in Spanish, intending to practice the local language. But, whether we are in a fine restaurant or at a taco stand, they reply to us in English in almost every case. So, we carry on a completely bilingual conversation, with us practicing our Spanish and the Mexican waiter practicing his or her English. Sometimes I think, why bother to learn Spanish? A wise Spanish teacher once taught me to say, "Quiero hablar Espanol; me ayudas?" (I want to speak Spanish; will you help me?) I have been lazy about saying this to waiters, but they are happy to help me with words or sentences, so it's time for me to be more persistent about asking for help.
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| Fine Restaurants or Taco Stands, Waiters Speak English to Us! |
2. Most of the Waiters at the Restaurants Speak English so I Don't Need to Learn Spanish! This is one of the quirkiest things I've observed in México. When we speak to the waiters in restaurants, we greet them in Spanish and we order in Spanish, intending to practice the local language. But, whether we are in a fine restaurant or at a taco stand, they reply to us in English in almost every case. So, we carry on a completely bilingual conversation, with us practicing our Spanish and the Mexican waiter practicing his or her English. Sometimes I think, why bother to learn Spanish? A wise Spanish teacher once taught me to say, "Quiero hablar Espanol; me ayudas?" (I want to speak Spanish; will you help me?) I have been lazy about saying this to waiters, but they are happy to help me with words or sentences, so it's time for me to be more persistent about asking for help.
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| Fine Restaurants or Taco Stands--Waiters Speak English To Us! |
3. It's Too Hard! I Just Want to Speak English. It is hard to learn Spanish! Conjugating verbs, present tense, past tense, slang, Mexican Spanish variations... There were times during Spanish class last year when I would "hit the wall" after just 30 minutes of lessons. The instructor would kindly excuse me from speaking in Spanish and let me finish the class by just listening to the other students speak while I took notes. I think I've progressed to the vocabulary level of a 2 1/2-year-old child. The neighbor kids speak to me at times when I'm outside watering the plants or walking through the barrio (Mexican neighborhood). One day three of them gathered around me and asked where Jon was. I thought for a minute, but couldn't find the words, so I used hand gestures, two hands together next to my ear with my head tipped, to indicate he had gone to sleep. The four-year-old said "dormir?" I smiled and replied, "Si, dormir!" I was excited that I knew that word--it means "to sleep"! Maybe if I try harder and keep talking to the neighbor kids, I can improve my Spanish to the speaking level of a 3-year-old by the end of the year.
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| These Kids' Dad Asked Me to "Share" a Photo of Their "Zebra-Donkey" |
4. Facebook has a Translation Button so I can Read my Mexican Friends' Posts. That is a pretty humble excuse, I admit. But, look how lazy we can be with that little translation feature. I am going to commit to trying to read the Spanish sentences from now on, before I click "See Translation"!
5. I'm Too Old to Learn Another Language! Well, I'm no longer "Before the Age of 59", or even before the age of 60. I still feel young, but learning new things does seem much more challenging now than during my school-years. Why didn't I take Spanish classes in high school rather than the two years of German I took? I would have a much better grammatical basis to build upon while learning to speak Spanish here in Mexico. At times, I believe that old saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks!" But, maybe I should focus on that other saying, "You're only as old as you feel" and start practicing as though I'm in high school language class again, only it's Spanish this time!
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| Feeling Young Next to La Catrina--I'm Only As Old As I Feel! |
6. I don't want to make a mistake and sound ignorant when I say the wrong word. I'm not confident enough. When I go to the beauty salon to have my hair cut and colored, I speak mostly in English to the hairdresser, Marta, and she speaks in Spanish to me, trying to teach me, I believe, because she does speak English at times. We both understand each other with enough hand gestures. Jon speaks Spanish to Marta and I envy his ability to carry on a conversation with her. One day, Marta said to Jon, in English so that I would understand her, "I think Terry is shy. She doesn't want to speak Spanish." I nodded, thinking that was a very tactful way to put it. I answered her in English, of course, "Yes, because I am afraid I will say the wrong words." I was thinking, "...and I am afraid I will sound ignorant." Marta just nodded, smiled politely, and continued to speak Spanish to me, helping me learn a few words each month when I have my hair appointment.
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| Vicki Points and Says "El Cangrejo!" and Laughs |
7. I can use Spanishdict.com to write my instructions for our housekeeper and my Spanish posts on Facebook. Do I really need to learn to speak it? I like it when our housekeeper, Vicki, speaks Spanish to me, complimenting my flowers and showing me that Bella has "el cangrejo"--a crab cornered in the yard. Jon helps me by translating since he knows more Spanish than I do, learned when he was a child in Ecuador. I know how to say "Gracias" for her information. Vicki teaches me a few words each week while she cleans our house. I know how to answer her when she asks where to start cleaning, either arriba (upstairs, literally above) or abajo (downstairs, literally below). I even understand when she tells me "necesita una escoba nueva" (you need a new broom) or asks me "¿Dónde está la escalera?" (where is the ladder?) But I can't come up with a sentence to ask her if she can dust the cobwebs, even though she has tried to teach me multiple times. So I use www.Spanishdict.com to find out the translation. It even has a Speaker Button next to "Translated by Microsoft" that speaks the phrase so I can hear it and practice saying it over and over. So then I ask Vicki, stumbling a little over the words, "¿Puede limpiar las telarañas?" She smiles and says, “Sí, puedo limpiar las telarañas.” Maybe I'll learn a few sentences if I keep practicing and Vicki continues to patiently help me each week.
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| What Would I do Without the SpanishDict.com Translation Website? |
8. I'm Too Busy! I teach Zumba class Monday and Wednesday mornings each week and after that I am too tired! Jon and I volunteer in various events including beach and riverbed clean-up days, SayulitAnimals Dog and Cat Spay and Neuter Clinics, and at the ProSayulita Fiesta. When I'm not writing my books and blogs, I'm gardening, sweeping the street in front of our casita, cooking, washing dishes, and doing everyday chores. Then, it's time to take a walk or do something else that's fun. Life may be simpler here in México, but we are always busy!
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| Teaching Zumba each Monday and Wednesday Morning Keeps Me Busy! |
9. It's Too Expensive to Take Spanish Classes! I did find that after two months of taking Spanish Classes two days each week, it was really cutting into my budget. I had also purchased one Spanish workbook and could foresee needing additional books--more expense. So I told the Spanish instructor that I needed a break from classes and took my Spanish workbook and flashcards home with the full intention to keep practicing every day. When I got bored with my flashcards, I purchased an online Spanish class called "Shortcut to Spanish" for only $39.95. It seems pretty easy to use, but the key is you have to use it. I have used it maybe a total of 10 hours, and that is definitely not enough. Then we bought a 10 CD Spanish lesson that we planned to listen to while we drive the motorhome. We haven't made it past CD #1. It is expensive to keep investing in all these Spanish lessons and still not learn enough Spanish to be fluent. I guess there is more to it than just spending the money!
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| Since I Spent the Money on "Shortcut to Spanish", Maybe I Should Use It! |
10. I would rather go boogie-boarding, Stand-Up Paddleboarding, golfing, gardening, teach Zumba, anything but practice Spanish! Let's go Stand-Up Paddleboarding after I practice a half-hour of Spanish!
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| Stand-Up Paddleboarding is More Fun than Practicing Spanish! |
Yes, I'm embarrassed to admit that I have used all ten of these excuses for not learning Spanish. I'll bet some of my readers have used at least a few of these excuses, too. Now that I've written my pathetic excuses and publicized them, I see how ridiculous they sound. I am committing to practicing Spanish at least 5 hours each week, and not just when we are dining out in a restaurant! At the end of each day, I know that I have spoken Spanish multiple times throughout the day, greeting people I pass on the street, talking to the cashier at the mini-supermarket, introducing myself to a Spanish-speaking Zumba student in my class, and during other brief encounters as I walk through town. I do speak Spanish. I just need to work harder to learn to speak more, and I will. No more excuses!
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| At the End of the Day, I Realize that I DO Speak Spanish |
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