This week I started my Spanish language classes. I opted for the "intensive" classes which means that I have 4 hours of class every afternoon, Monday to Friday. It's quite a lot considering I haven't been inside a classroom in over 4 years. I was afraid I couldn't concentrate for that long. But it's turning out not to be that bad. The classes are one on one so I'm liking all the personal attention. I have two hours of "conversation" with Maria, where we chat about random things and I get to ask her random questions about living in Nicaragua. And then after a wee break, 2 hours with Diederik and grammer lessons. 
Diederik and Maria keep telling me how great I'm doing and that my Spanish is sooo good. It's kind of like a 4 hour ego boost. So I'm walking out of class thinking "I'm so great, I can speak Spanish". And then I get home and Graciela (the owner of the house) has about 10 people over for dinner. I am flooded with a gazillion new words coming at me and I barely understand a thing! There is no use looking up a word in the dictionary because by the time I find the word, the story has moved on and I don't even remember why I was looking up the word in the first place. So do I speak Spanish or not?
Everyone is saying that I will be fluent in no time. But I really can't believe that now. It seems impossible. I give up. I'm destined to only have basic conversations that happen in the present tense (because that's the only verb tense I know). I guess that means I'm not worrying about the past or the future - and only concentrating on the present.
5 comments:
The frustrating thing for me is having to stop mid-sentence all the time and ask 'is that right?' or 'how do you say puedo in past tense' because no one corrects me when i'm wrong. And all my sentences still sounds like questions cause I'm so unsure of what i'm saying, I can't kick the habit. I feel like a baby. Everyone explains things slow with large gestures.
The phrase that I find myself constantly using is ¿Cómo ce dice en español?
Hey Audrey,
Don't be so hard on yourself. How long have you been there? 2 weeks?? Give it time....hahaaha....I was freaking out just like you!!! With 4 hrs a day you will be a wiz kid soon. When I only knew present tense I just used my thumb to indicate the past and my index finger for the future!!
I love the last sentence about the connection between language and the "bigger picture". Concentrating on the present and leaving the past behind...very profound!
I think you speak spanish!! brava! (or is that Italian....??)
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