One of the reasons why I was really excited about coming to Spain was that I hoped I could learn a whole new language. I imagined I would be fluent in absolutely no time! That, did not happen. But! I have learned a lot of Spanish – way more than I would have ever known if I had stayed home. It keeps improving and it is getting easier with time. When I first arrived it was a struggle and once or twice I wondered what I had gotten myself into. How bad was it going to suck living in a foreign country for four and a half months and not talk to anyone? I thought I might lose my mind and have to begin talking to myself! Thankfully it did not have to come to this.
When I first arrived I went through a little bit of a culture shock. I had to travel from the airport, to a train station, then to Murcia. I was thankful Kate and I were together because I had someone else who knew how I was feeling. And with our combined Spanish knowledge we could get from A to B. The shock started as soon as we got to the airport in Madrid. I knew how to ask where the train station was, but the hard part was understanding the answer unless it consists of “a la isquerda” or “a la derecha” (left or right). It is still hard to communicate sometimes but at the beginning it was extremely difficult. Everything was different and simple things were much harder to do. Getting to a train station, getting train tickets, giving/receiving directions, asking where things are, buying things, going grocery shopping, etc. All the small things turned into big things. For a while I avoided doing things if it required talking to someone if there was a way to get what I needed without communication that was the option for me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to learn, it was that I didn’t want to sound like an idiot. I felt so bad when I had broken conversations with people, and felt a little bit rude when I tried talking to a Spanish person with the worst Spanish ever. I always dreaded that puzzled look on people’s faces that clearly said “what in the world are you talking about”? I still get those looks but what has changed now is that I’m not afraid of getting it.
I am by no means fluent in Spanish, but I am happy and fairly impressed with what I know. Now instead of avoiding making eye contact with people, I get pretty excited when a random person on the street asks me a question. I look forward to seeing if I will completely understand what they are asking and then it is an even better success when I can answer. I have gotten to a point where I can mostly understand someone when they are speaking to me, but I can’t always find the words to answer back in proper and complete sentences. I’ve recently started watching Modern Family which is an American show, but one of the main characters is Columbian and she usually goes on rants in Spanish. So far I have understood all of her Spanish freak outs... which is kind of exciting.
So! My Spanish is in no way perfect, but I’m proud of how it is coming along. There is a huge difference between being absolutely terrified to speak and being comfortable and excited about trying. I have two months left and hope it keeps getting better!
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