Five Questions / Cinco preguntas
¡Hola!
I've just had this idea of asking you all about the most important changes that Spanish (and the continuous process of learning it) has brought into your lives.
You can take this as a little experiment or you may take it as a way for all of us to recall our best Spanish moments or even as a sharing experience from which we should all learn about what we have in common and what differentiates us as learners (of all levels) of Spanish. Ultimately, you may even take this as a test for our love of, and commitment to, this wonderful language whose secrets we're all trying to discover.
Hoping I'll get answers from as many of you as possible, all I'm left to say now is, "Enjoy this ride down memory lane!"
Thank you all for your attention.
When did you first learn about Spanish? Was it in your school years or later on?
What was the first thing that drew your attention towards Spanish? Was it a book, a word heard on TV, a friend or something entirely different? Please do share with us that experience.
Did you first think of Spanish as an easy language to learn or as a hard language? Has anything changed in your attitude towards the language since then? Do you now consider it easier or harder than at the beginning?
Would you share with us the most challenging moment you’ve ever had during your Spanish adventure? What about the most frustrating moment, when you were just about to give in? What about the most rewarding moment, when you thought, upon completing a most difficult grammatical task, that Spanish is indeed at your fingertips?
Finally, one last question, perhaps the “trickiest” one: Would you tell us why you thought, at the time of your first contact with Spanish, as revealed in Question No. 1, that you should learn Spanish? To put it more simply, would you give us your rationale for wanting to know another language, particularly Spanish?
5 Answers
Q#1: I can’t really recall when I first learned about Spanish. It’s kind of always been around. But my first attempts to learn it (more than the couple words kids might learn in kindergarten and elementary school) came during winter break of seventh grade.
Q#2: I was in my high school’s orchestra in seventh grade, and we had been invited to travel to Spain and play at El Escorial. I decided that I didn’t want to be the typical “stupid American” and go over there expecting everyone to speak English. I knew I didn’t have enough time to achieve any sort of fluency or real conversation skills, but I wanted to learn enough to be able to get around and not get lost or stranded in a strange country.
Q#3: I started teaching myself Spanish while I was in my first year of Latin in junior high. I didn’t find it to be too tremendously difficult at that point, but I was going for a very basic understanding of the language (enough to not get lost in Spain). Once I started taking it in high school, it generally came very naturally for me, although I recall learning the subjunctive to be a little more challenging. Now, going back and re-learning things, I’m finding it’s coming back pretty quickly.
Q#4: The most frustrating thing to me was the fact that I did very well in my Spanish classes in high school, but in the years after graduation, I did not practice my skills. As a result, I’d lost (what I thought was) the majority of my skills in the language.
I’m a student of tae kwon do, one rank below black belt. As one of the advanced students in the class, I am often called upon to help instruct. We now have a rather large group of native Spanish speakers in my class. Most of them speak English as well, but there are a few that do not. It kills me that, in high school, I would have had skills enough to speak to them and help them, but now cannot. That’s been part of the reason I’ve been so driven to re-learn what I’ve lost. I have also become friends with one of my classmates, who is from Guatemala. He’s been in the U.S. for about a decade, and knew no English when he arrived. He speaks it fairly fluently now, enough that if you don’t speak to him for too long or too frequently, you wouldn’t have any idea that there was a language barrier (minus his accent, which doesn’t really count). He is now working on the reading and writing side of learning English. He and I text for practice (and because we like to talk), and it’s been helpful for me to know some Spanish to answer his questions about English.
One of my favorite moments in knowing/learning Spanish was when my orchestra stopped at a diner while traveling in between cities in Spain. The majority of the students knew a few words of Spanish, and were able to recognize some of the words on the posted menu. After watching my classmates order random dishes that did not appeal to me (and having hard bread and cheese myself), I gathered enough courage to go up and speak to the man at the counter. I asked him, in Spanish, if he had any French fries. He replied that he did, and I ended up with a plate of some of the best fries I’d ever had. I was very popular among my classmates for a little while. 
It was a nice boost to the self esteem of the nerdy loner girl. Haha.
Q#5: I have always wanted to learn as many languages as I could. While I haven’t exactly accomplished that, I’ve played around with Portuguese, Turkish, and Italian (no fluency in any of these whatsoever). Most of my language choices are governed by the music I listen to, actually. It’s nice to know what people are singing about (and what I’m saying when I sing along). Spanish, however, always seemed like a logical choice. It’s a very common language to hear in the United States, and I figured it would be a good idea to learn a language that I both liked and could use.
When did you first learn about Spanish?
I honestly can't remember. I have been aware of the Spanish language since childhood.
I studied French for four years in school, but never used it in my life. I have had a nagging desire to learn a second language since I was a teen. There were many times through the years that it was evident that Spanish would be the wisest choice...if I were to ever take the plunge and finally learn a second language.
About four reasons converged at once to compel me to become serious. To begin with, in 2005, I met and started working with a Dominican musician who had recently moved to the U.S. It was necessary for me to be able to communicate with him better. In 2008, I wound up visiting Mexico two times in one summer and was completely frustrated with my inability to communicate. At that time, I fell in love with Spanish speaking people and their culture. Finally, after returning from Mexico, I was asked to travel to the Dominican Republic for a missions trip in the summer of 2009. For these reasons and several others, I realized that there was no turning back...learning Spanish had become my goal.
My most challenging moments were...
There were several. Most of these were times when I was traveling in remote parts of the Dominican Republic with our church group. I was the only one who spoke any Spanish at all. There was one scary moment at the airport when I had to interpret for a friend who for whatever reason, forgot that you couldn't pack 16 ounce bottles of liquid in her carry on bag. That was a bit scary, but it all worked out.
Most rewarding....
I have shared this several times in the forum. Probably the most rewarding experience was sharing my "testimony" or life story in a Dominican church. This was one complete page of dialog and I wasn't sure if anyone would understand me. I was overjoyed that they did! I was also responsible for introducing the group and for narrating several activities that we did as a part of our mission work.
To put it more simply, would you give us your rationale for wanting to know another language, particularly Spanish?
There are so many reasons why I believe that it is necessary for me to learn Spanish. It may take me a long time, but this is a lifetime commitment. With modern technology, our world is becoming smaller and smaller. It is important to be able to communicate with people from around the world. Where I live in the U.S. and because of other convictions I have, Spanish is the language which makes the most sense for me to learn. In addition, I would love to return to the mission field in Latin America and serve in whatever way I possibly can. I have so many Spanish speaking friends right now. I would love to improve my communication skills with these friends and make many more new friends along the way.
- I started one year ago.. I'm just passionate about learning languages.
- Well , actuall I play Billiards. Three Cushion. And the first time I heared somebody speaking Spanish was at a world cup. There were 6 spanish players and I got on very well with them... But before that, I'm a fan of Rafael Nadal , so I always wanted to learn it...
- In the beginning I thought it was really different.. Because there was a conjugation with the verbs and also for me adjectives are different.. But later on, I noticed that there were a lot of things which are the same in turkish.. So I really started to enjoy. Because a phrase which doesn't mean anything in english but means something in spanish and in turkish made me more passionate. So I ended up with going to spain for holiday
- I think I never had a moment like that. Because I study languages and I started to this adventure by promising to myself that I'd never give up neither give in..
- Because I love it ... I simply loved it and I'll always love it. Well, I used to read a lot about Spanish culture and my biggest dream was moving to Spain. And now I find myself studying Spanish Literature and Spanish History to pass "La Selectividad" to study "English - Spanish Interpretation and Translation" at University in Spain..
- I started Spanish in the second grade.
- I wasn't drawn to Spanish necessarily. I didn't have a choice as to whether or not to learn it when I was that young; I just did. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, though. I suppose what I really liked was my teacher and the laid back atmosphere.
- I think Spanish is rather easy, but obviously that's up to every person. I'm just really into languages. I speak French and taught Latin at my middle school (while I was a student). Of every language I've studied, I would say Spanish is the easiest and it's much more useful where I live than most others. My attitude about it has definitely changed. I loved it in the second, third, and fourth grade; hated it in the sixth grade; loved it again ever since seventh. I plan to teach it.
- I actually dated a guy whose family was Argentine. His Spanish was terrible, grammatically speaking, and the worst out of everyone in his family. I had to correct him all the time! Despite that, he had the balls to tell me that I didn't speak Spanish. That broke me. Lots of people know what they want in life, and for me, Spanish is my only dream. About two months later (and subsequently after breaking up!) I had an oral exam for my IB Spanish certificate. I got a perfect score, and since then, I have realized I'm worthy and able to speak this language. I love it beyond belief.
- Having started Spanish so young in life, it did sort of come naturally to me in ways my counterparts don't/didn't understand. I didn't have more of a reason than that. After learning more languages, I realized I love the idioms and ways things are expressed in Spanish more so than in other languages. Every language has something that interests me. Spanish just feels right, though.
1, I learnt no Spanish in school, probably heard it on television first. I knew a few words, hello, goodbye, please, thank you etc. Basic stuff.
2, I bought a Spanish/English phrasebook before going on holiday to Lanzarote. I wanted a few phrases. I have a young son, so "where are the toilets" is essential. I realised I quite liked the language, and during my holiday, I decided to try to learn it.
3, My first impression was that I would be able to learn Spanish given enough time and effort. I gave no thought to how easy or hard it would be.
4, The most challenging, rewarding and frustrating moment are the same. In Mallorca two months ago, five months after starting to learn, I had my first ( and only ) conversation in Spanish so far. In a market, I had a 10 minute conversation with a guy on a stall selling hams and cheeses. We talked about the food, the cooking, what we liked etc. My Spanish was dreadful, verb conjugation all wrong, tenses wrong, vocabulary seriously lacking. But we managed, and basically understood each other.
5, I've often wanted to learn another language, but never got around to it. Spanish came up at the right time. It will only be a "holiday language" for me, I rarely meet a Spanish speaker, and will never "need" to know it. It won't be a important or practical skill for me. I just wanted to learn. I have gived myself 3 years to become "competent", and will then visit Spain properly, not a holiday resort, but a major city, or less "touristy" part.
