Yesterday I came very close to crossing off number 24 on my 32 in 32 list. Since I arrived in Madrid a few weeks ago, I've made every effort to speak only Spanish with my Spanish friends, some of whom I became friends with as a result of language exchanges when I lived here five years ago. I have been eager to brush up my Spanish, because I have lost a lot of vocabulary and gained a bit of accent since I moved away. Most days since I've arrived about 95% of my interactions have taken place in Spanish. During the hiking trip, I spoke some Spanish and some English. I've spoken in English with other American Hispanists that I've run into here at the archives. I have a couple of American friends who reside in Madrid, and our relationships are in English. And M. and I have had a few phone conversations since I left.
Yesterday I went to the archives. As I was just about to arrive, a felt something wet on my hand and arm. It was bird shit (which is apparently good luck), and my first reaction was to curse. It was in Spanish. I only spoke Spanish in the archives and with the waiter when I took a break for lunch. I met up with a friend in the afternoon for a couple of drinks before I went to see a performance of some Baroque interludes at the Teatro Clasico. We spoke Spanish the entire time, and the theater had me feeling pretty good about my Spanish again.
After I got home from the theater and was unwinding for the night with an Isabel Allende novel (La isla bajo el mar), I was thinking that I could cross this one off my list. A few pages later and my phone rang. It was an American friend of mine (who is actually a native Spanish speaker but with whom I have a relationship in English), and without thinking I answered in English and we talked for a few minutes before I realized that I had just screwed up.
There will be another couple of opportunities to try next week, so I may still nail this one completely. I hope that I do. Otherwise, I may have to be satisfied with having gone a day speaking only in Spanish - minus 7 minutes.
I'm curious. How many of you readers speak a second or multiple languages? How fluent do you consider yourself? How do you keep your fluency when you live somewhere where that language isn't spoken?
I wish I could speak another language but do not...at all!
ReplyDeleteI did the Rosetta Stone thing a couple of years ago and got pretty decent at reading and writing Spanish. But as far as being conversational? Psht. It still took me a long time to form the sentences in my head, and I couldn't listen fast enough to understand what was being said to me.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is awesome. I would totally count that as a day of spanish only if you don't get another opportunity to do that.
ReplyDeleteI sadly do not speak any other language. ** hangs head ** I wish I did. I would love to learn French, and I will some day. After the CFA!
I think a full day minus 7 minutes is pretty darn good! I used to be quite fluent in Spanish--actually studied international relations w/ a focus on Latin America and spent a summer in Costa Rica. But alas, no hay nadie para practicar conmigo hoy en dia! And so I've lost it all!
ReplyDeleteI speak Spanish but it's been a while since I have had to speak ONLY Spanish so I am very, very rusty. I guess I need to go on vacation!
ReplyDeleteActually, what Misszippy said is pretty much the same for me. Maybe she and I should practice together.
Good for you and I hope you reach your goal before you leave. We did much better when we were in Bordeaux -- here in Paris, immersion is more difficult and, of course, the two of us speak to each other in English. We've had some marathon French conversations, though, that I felt pretty excited about, but I've got a long way to go with listening/hearing/understanding -- one of my goals for the next year, actually.
ReplyDeleteI have a rudimentary understanding of Spanish and a textbook understanding of French. Have never had much of an opportunity to practice either. You've come so close...it sounds like you are thinking in Spanish if you curse in that language. I would say it is safe to cross #24 off your list.
ReplyDeleteThat's still very impressive! I took Latin, whomp whomp. Useful, but not when traveling!
ReplyDeleteYou're so close! (Did you speak Spanish before bed the night before? Maybe your 24-hours can start then?)
ReplyDeleteI studied Spanish for 5 years as a teen and a year after college. (I attempted German in between.) My ability to speak bounces back with time immersed in the language, but fades quickly without practice.
Practicing needs to go back on my goal list, but despite its Spanish roots, Pensacola has very few Spanish-speakers...