A Milestone in learning for me

Question

Since I've had my own moments of desperation and depression with trying to learn Spanish, I thought I need to share my experience from today. As a brief preface, I am 55 years old, I started teaching myself Spanish eighteen months ago using several different learning methods, and in spite of myself I guess I'm doing pretty good. So, today at church I had the opportunity to speak to the congregation. I had the last week to prepare for this, so I had written some notes to help me. I guess I need to add that this congregation is Hispanic, and the service is entirely in Spanish. There are typically only three americanos in service, but we do have an interpreter, which my wife and the other gringo use. So, today, I stood up in front of a Spanish speaking congregation and spoke, for 15 minutes, entirely in Spanish. Yes, I had an interpreter! Today was really a breakthrough for me. I often get to speak in front of groups like this, and I'm rarely nervous. However, speaking Spanish, for some reason, scares the wits out of me. Typically, all my Spanish conversations are 'one on one' and there is no 'fear', but in front of a group of people? I didn't think I'd be able to overcome the fear. But today, it was different. I was nervous when I started, and I immediately lost my place in my notes, so I just breathed deeper and settle down. As I began to speak, the words began to flow, and I talked, and I finished, and I nearly wept. I really couldn't believe what I was doing, or what I was hearing coming out of my mouth. The congregation applauded me enthusiastically, and I returned to my seat in almost a surreal state of mind. Afterwords, talking with different people, I was so encouraged by their comments. One lady told me "everybody's jaw dropped when they heard how you were speaking Spanish". Just about everyone there knows I am learning Spanish, but they had never heard my "progress". . I hope no one takes this post as a braggarts tale. I experienced some kind of 'breakthrough' today, these things kind of come to me from time to time. Most of the time it seems like I'm on some sort of learning plateau, but when I do get to advance to another level, it's always great. Today was one of those times when my ability to speak seemed to 'jump' to another level. Our guest evangelist today was from Panama, my first exposure to hearing that flavor of Spanish. I was very thankful that my comprehension is also continuing to approve. It was so 'cool' that I understood clearly when the evangelist asked me to come back to the keyboards and play at the end of the service. Small things maybe, but milestones to me. . I do hope that someone is encouraged by this, that they can learn Spanish. Especially to those 'older' folks like myself, it is possible. I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be, but I am eons away from where I used to be. . Today was a good day!

• Very touching, I wish I could vote for you twice. - billy-jones Dec 31, 2009

Answer 1

I am extremely proud of you Jack. I am so thankful that you have shared this experience with us. The fact that you started only eighteen months ago is a great encouragement for those who think they will have to study for years and years before being able to do anything meaningful with the language.

It is so strange, but in June, I shared an almost identical experience. I spoke in a church in the Dominican Republic for about fifteen minutes and was able to give my entire testimony to people who spoke absolutely no English. Others in our group used an interpreter, but I was determined to do it on my own. That is one of the reasons I became so involved with this site. A Dominican friend of mine in the states helped me to translate everything on paper to make it grammatically correct. A Puerto Rican friend at my church coached me with my pronunciation for several weeks before I left.

I was so excited, studying on the plane and going over it and over it in my mind. I absolutely hate public speaking, but for some reason, I felt so compelled to let the words come from my heart and not from an interpreter. However, when the big moment came and I started to speak, the thought went through my head..."Are you crazy? What are you doing?' But by now, the pastor had already excitedly told everyone that I would be speaking to them without an interpreter and everyone smiled and applauded. So I dove in with much fear and trepidation. Much to my surprise, people reacted appropriately with every sentence. They laughed at the funny parts, seemed touched during the sad moments and yelled "amen" at just the right times. That was my breakthrough!!! They understood me. It is a feeling I will never forget. I am hoping and praying for more opportunities to do this in the near future.

Oddly enough, I also play the keyboard and at the end of the service, I was asked to come back up front to play a song at the end of the service. So your story from start to finish has just brought back all of those great memories.

Keep up the great work. You are truly an inspiration. I hope you have many more opportunities to share in Spanish as well.

Answer 2

Jack, that is just so amazing and wonderful. There are no limits to what you can learn no matter what age you are.

Now that you have had your "breakthrough," I am sure you will be so much more comfortable speaking to any and all people in Spanish. Things will (hopefully) be a lot easier and much more fun without all the worry about making mistakes. I remember my "breakthrough" fondly, although it wasn't nearly as inspirational as yours. I missed a plane at an airport and had to negotiate a new flight and a hotel and the need was there, so the words just started flowing. I was so angry about the flight but so excited that the Spanish just came to me.

Congratulations again!

Answer 3

A major milestone, indeed! I loved your experience. And like Nicole, it struck a familiar chord in my memory, too. I also love the word you used: 'plateau'. I have used that before to describe my progress in learning Spanish. There are periods when progress seems slow to nil. But when another 'breakthrough' is made...

W O W ! ! What a feeling! Keep up the good work!

Answer 4

¡Bien hecho Jack!

What an inspirational story. I think for many of us beginners it's the "speaking out loud" bit that is so daunting - well for me anyway - even though I love the learning; the challenge and the new insights from this forum - when I speak to someone in Spanish one-on-one I'm wracked with nerves. I think what you broke-through was fear - and yes, a milestone you will leave behind forever....

Answer 5

Very inspiring story Jack. Thank you so much for sharing. It is very encouraging to hear how both you and Nicole were able to conquer your fears and go outside your own comfort zones and be rewarded for it. Bravo.

Answer 6

"everybody's jaw dropped when they heard how you were speaking Spanish"

Thank you Jack, great news! I am calling Paralee to this thread, she will be ever so pleased

this is she right here

Answer 7

Nicole wrote:

They understood me. It is a feeling I will never forget

Thank you Nicole for your kind words and for sharing your story. I really appreciated reading it. Like you say, it is a feeling I will never forget!

Answer 8

Paralee wrote:

Now that you have had your "breakthrough," I am sure you will be so much more comfortable speaking to any and all people in Spanish. Things will (hopefully) be a lot easier and much more fun without all the worry about making mistakes. I remember my "breakthrough" fondly, although it wasn't nearly as inspirational as yours. I missed a plane at an airport and had to negotiate a new flight and a hotel and the need was there, so the words just started flowing. I was so angry about the flight but so excited that the Spanish just came to me.

Thank you Paralee, what a funny story! I do feel like the 'pressure' has been taken off me, or at least a lot of the worry of making mistakes.

Answer 9

nizhoni1 wrote:

This sounds huge to me Jack. Wasn't it you that wrote of a difficult experience with comprehension at a service at your church in the past few weeks?

You are right, it was me. It seems like the last few weeks were very hard, maybe it's because I'm pushing so hard, I don't know. There seems to be some kind of 'ebb and flow' to this learning thing

Answer 10

chaparrito wrote:

A major milestone, indeed! I loved your experience. And like Nicole, it struck a familiar chord in my memory, too. smile I also love the word you used: 'plateau'. I have used that before to describe my progress in learning Spanish. There are periods when progress seems slow to nil. But when another 'breakthrough' is made...

W O W ! ! What a feeling! Keep up the good work! cool smile

Thanks for the encouragement! I sure need to enjoy the plateaus more

Answer 11

Thank you for sharing your story Jack. It is inspiring and encouraging, something many of us need when learning anything new to us.

Answer 12

4Annie wrote:

I think for many of us beginners it's the "speaking out loud" bit that is so daunting

Indeed, speaking in public is hated by most, or at least it's the most feared thing to do. Public speaking in a language that you're not proficient in, well, that just scares me to death

Answer 13

Izanoni wrote:

Very inspiring story Jack. Thank you so much for sharing. It is very encouraging to hear how both you and Nicole were able to conquer your fears and go outside your own comfort zones and be rewarded for it. Bravo.

Thanks so much for your comments It seems absurdly hard to get out of our comfort zones, but from my perspective it seems to be worth it!

Answer 14

Heidita wrote:

Thank you Jack, great news! I am calling Paralee to this thread, she will be ever so pleasedsmile

Gracias Heidita!

Answer 15

Jack, what an encouraging story! Both yours and Nicole's made me eyes well up with tears. I've often sensed that learning Spanish for me is "a God thing".

I've been able to use it just a little bit in a children's ministry that I'm able to help. Most of the kids aren't Hispanic, but a few are. I'm sure there would be more if we had more workers that could speak Spanish. To hear those children giggle when I speak a few words to them in Spanish has been really gratifying to me. I know I made them feel a little better being there, and that was huge.

Like you, I've found the plateaus to be so disheartening. So your encouraging words have really been important to me. Maybe someday I'll grow up enough to speak to adults.

Thanks so much, Jack.