It's Not A Race

This afternoon I finished reading* the first book of the Game of Thrones series that has become so popular worldwide.  I don't watch the television show, although I have seen a few episodes here and there, and my interest in the book was rooted in the fact that I was able to purchase it written in Spanish, not that I am a big fan of fantasy novels.  That being said, I enjoyed it and I am proud to have completed it, as it is over 700 pages long.  Now, I should probably add that I purchased the book well over a year ago, possibly closer to two years ago.  Why has it taken me so long to finish?  Well, I suppose the first reason is that, like I said, I am not a huge fantasy fiction fan.  I didn't read hundreds of pages at once, and I would often go weeks without reading it at all.  The second reason it took me so long is, well, it was hard!

Game  of Thrones is not the first novel I have read in Spanish, but it is the longest and most difficult novel I have attempted to this point.  That's why when I say I finished reading it, I put an *.  Yes, I read the words on the pages, and yes, I comprehended the plot, but did I understand every word?  Of course not.  Were there times I read entire pages and realized I hadn't understood a single word of it?  Surely.  I even cheated a few times and went online to view plot summaries just to make sure I really was following along with the plot.  Despite some difficulties, I am proud to say I followed along very well.

In a moment of exaggerated optimism, I purchased the second novel many months ago and made it one of the few books I was able to pack in my bags when I moved to Spain.  I plan on starting it this afternoon, but with a better plan of attack in mind.  This time around, I want to really focus on learning as I go, so I plan on reading only one chapter at a time, but focusing on picking out words and phrases I don't know and adding them to my list to study.  As they say, slow and steady wins the race and while it may take me just as long, if not longer to complete this novel, I am hoping to get more out of it than I did from the first.  Sure, I managed to finish the first novel, but was I successful in learning much from it?  That's debatable.

I think too often, especially when it comes to languages, we try to move too fast too soon.  I know, I was right there in the beginning, trying to cram as many new vocabulary words as I could into my head, but the fact is, it's not a race.  Learning a language should be fun, and it shouldn't have a finish line.  Sure, it's great to have goals, but what's going to happen if you DON'T memorize 500 new words in six months?  So what if after two years you can only use the present tense of the verbs?  No one is going to come and punish you.  You're not a failure just because it takes a little longer to finish reading your first novel in a foreign language.  I think goals are great.  In fact, I think they're crucial, but we shouldn't be disappointed in ourselves if we fail to hit the mark each time.  I see so many posts of people who are disappointed for not hitting such and such goal in such and such time.  Instead of lamenting over what you haven't accomplished, why not celebrate what you have?  Just my thoughts.  Anyone else?

What Voice Do We Listen To?

One of the biggest boosts in confidence I have had when it comes to speaking Spanish is social media.  Ever since I started dedicating my time to improving my Spanish, I have tried to use social media as a way to boost my confidence and give me the kick I needed to keep going when the going got tough.  I have discovered websites, such as The Mixxer that offer free search engines to reach out to other language learners and in turn we are able to use tools such as Skype to set up intercambios where we can take turns practicing our second or even third languages.

I have found Facebook groups who love to discuss learning Spanish, and countless YouTube videos that offer lessons and advice on how to improve your language skills.  All in all, I have found that reaching out to others is a great way to find the inspiration, motivation, and confidence to push on when I find myself in a rut.  Unfortunately, there are also negative aspects of social media.  There are those who find pleasure in bringing others down.  Instead of inspiring, they discourage, ridicule, and belittle those that are seeking positive reinforcement.  Fortunately for me, I have not come across all that many of these individuals, although I have heard plenty of stories from others.  I do my best to ignore those who thrive on negative energy, and when I do stumble across someone who wants to bring me down, I find ways to ignore and avoid that person.

All that being said, there is one voice I have found that is nearly impossible to ignore.  Despite my very best efforts, there seems to always be a way for this one voice to get to me.  That voice is the voice inside my head, and I have discovered recently that I am not the only one affected by my own worst thoughts.  My point in mentioning social media before introducing this topic was that it was on Facebook that I discovered just how overpowering ones inner voice can be, even when surrounded by positive energy.  While I have found encouragement from others to be a great motivator, sometimes all the encouragement in the world won't help if you allow your inner thoughts to bring you down.  I have seen posts from individuals who have nothing but negative things to say about themselves.  Despite all the encouragement the other members of the group try to offer, there seems to be no hope in changing their negative self outlook.  It bothers me greatly to see this, as the only person standing in their way from excelling is themselves.  I have learned from my own experience, we are our own worst critic.  If we allow ourselves to accept our own criticisms, we will never be able to advance.  Yes, it takes confidence to go out there and speak in a foreign language, but we have to overcome our own insecurities, our own self doubt, and take a very scary leap forward.  Yes, it's frightening, but we can all do it.  This was something I had to teach myself, but I also owe a lot of thanks to those who encouraged me along the way.

So, in the end, don't be afraid to reach out to those on social media for encouragement, but more importantly, don't be afraid to be your own positive motivator.  Don't let your inner voice scare you.  Challenge yourself and be positive.  Negative thoughts will get you nowhere.  Who's with me?

Back For More

It's been one year since my last entry here, and while I haven't exactly had heavy traffic, I thought I would get back to writing just a bit in the hopes of inspiring myself and others to live their lives more adventurously while learning a new language.  If you've read any of my previous entries here, my goal with this blog has always been to push myself and others to have confidence in speaking a foreign language and to use that language to better their lives.  My last entry here was written in Madrid, Spain, just a few days before I returned to the United States after spending the month of May in an apartment in the Lavapies neighborhood of Madrid.  The year that followed was not at all what I expected it to be, and here I am today, once again writing from Madrid, yes, Madrid, about how learning a second language has changed my life.

When I came back to the United States, initially I was thrilled to be home, but I quickly found myself wanting to return to Spain. The experience had opened my eyes to new things and my life in the United States would never be the same, nor could it compare to a life in Spain.  I met a very special woman while I was in Spain the first time, and for the next year, we stayed in contact, talking to each other each and every day, and in October, she came to spend a week with me in the United States.  After that week, we made plans for me to come back to Spain, this time permanently, as we were going to live together.  I am now proud to say we are to be married (a rather arduous task to take on in Spain for an American such as myself) and we are expecting our first child in November.  All of this because I took the risk of traveling to Spain all by myself as a way of discovering who I was and who I could be.  Had I never decided to speak Spanish, who knows where I would be today.

I'm not suggesting learning a second language is going to find you the love of your life, but I certainly never would have met my wife if I did not speak Spanish.  Speaking Spanish has opened doors for me, not only at home, but worldwide.  I can speak confidently to people from 21 different countries that I would not have been able to if I did not speak Spanish.  I have no plans on traveling the world, at least not right now, but speaking two languages has made my life infinitely more exciting.  After spending just one month in Spain, I was able to say good-bye to the parts of my life I no longer wanted and I was able to become the person I feel I had always been meant to be.

We may move back to the United States in the coming years, we may not, but what's important is that I have found a life here that is certainly more interesting than the one I left behind.  I'd love to hear the stories of those who have done similar things, of those who have used Spanish, or any other language for that matter, to change their lives for the better.  I know I haven't been around here much, but I plan on spending some more time here from now on.  I hope to hear from you.

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