Aprendiendo la Lengua

Yesterday, I needed to exchange a light bulb at the store because I’d purchased one earlier that day, and the base was too large for my new lamp. And, I explained this situation to the store clerk entirely in Spanish. Ta da!

It’s important to revel in the small language victories. For example, when a Spaniard asks me a question and I understand what they say, it’s a victory. When I know the correct preposition or adjective to use in a sentence, it’s a victory. When I can compose a sentence in my head, it’s a victory.

This person is probably at the same language level as me

My classes have been extremely helpful. We are now learning the 2nd out of 4 past verb tenses. Yippee! I can say, “I lived in New Orleans.” Vivé en Nueva Orleans. It’s really annoying to say “I live in New Orleans 2 years past.” “I live in South Carolina, but now I live in Los Angeles.”

Because I am fully committed to learning the language, I am committed to watching TV. Cooking shows are especially helpful. The host of the show tells you what he’s doing as he’s doing it: “Now, I take the 5 raw anchovies and place them on the roasted red peppers and onions. Next, I pour approximately 100 grams of olive oil on the fish and garnish with 3 french fries.”

One of my favorite shows

Spain shows tons of American shows and movies – C.S.I., Grey’s Anatomy, The Simpsons, etc. But, they dub everything into Spanish. Sometimes it’s really annoying, but I actually like The Simpsons better in Spanish. When the little Spanish voice for Marge says "Oh, Homie!" it's so cute.

Remember that movie, Witness, with Harrison Ford about the Amish kid who witnesses a murder? (It came out in the 80s.) Anyway, EVERYONE in Spain saw Witness. But, there’s no Spanish word for Amish, so in the movie, Amish was dubbed as Mormon. Years ago, when Mormon missionaries would try to mission in Spain, the Spaniards said “But, I don’t want to give up electricity!” Because they had seen Witness. Seriously.


Anyone will tell you that the most important part of learning a language is just getting out there and speaking it with natives. My Aunt Susan encourages me to simply strike up a conversation with the old woman next to me in the market while buying bread . . . I haven’t gotten to this level quite yet.

However, Brad, Rob and I went out for tapas recently with Paulina – a Mexican girl about our age who is researching at the School of Latin American Studies here. I practiced my cumbersome Spanish with her and she was quite courteous (typical Mexican.) She’s here until December, so I’ll definitely have to use her for practice -er- go out with her again. And, we have a friend, Pavel, staying with us this weekend who is also Mexican. Pavel is married to one of Brad’s UCLA amigas. I get to show him Sevilla in Spanish!

Next step: intercambios. An intercambio is simply 2 people getting together to practice speaking a new language. Through my program, I can get the name of a Spaniard who is learning English and I simply call them and say, “Hola, quieres . . .” Okay, I don’t know the Spanish word for “to meet.” As soon as I learn that word, I’ll get an intercambio partner and we’ll go for coffee.