Today's The Day

So I finally had the guts to go ahead and make public my YouTube channel.  My hopes are to better my Spanish speaking abilities, inspire others to improve their own spoken abilities in foreign languages, and to go forward in learning other languages, as deep down I have always wanted to speak more than just Spanish and English.

I'm hoping to find more people interested in reading my blog here and hopefully interested in offering their own stories and advice here, or on Facebook, or wherever we can find a forum to express ourselves.

I've been nervous abut posting videos of myself for some time.  It's quite a bit scarier than posting a blog.  Suddenly my face is out there for everyone to see and all my mistakes are a lot more obvious.  I still have to record and post my first official video, as what I posted today was only an introduction.  I would like to post weekly and focus on topics that pertain to how language learning benefits us.  I'm not so interested in learning grammar or focusing on vocabulary, there are plenty of sites for that.  Here, I want to just talk about how languages effect us all and hopefully I can build a following based on that premise.  My videos, at least right now, are very basic as I really don't know much about editing, but hopefully that too ill improve over time.

I'd love to hear your thoughts here on how I can best offer an entertaining channel while at the same time improving my own speaking ability.  (Of course I will be speaking in both English and Spanish.  I want everyone to be able to follow along.)

OK, that's it here for now, but hopefully the comments will start rolling in soon.  Hasta luego!

Why It's Harder To Learn Spanish In Spain

So I have been in Madrid for two weeks now, and I finally feel as if I'm settling in.  Nice to know I am finally comfortable, halfway through my trip.  That being said, one thing I think I have learned in my time here is that, for me at least, practicing Spanish has actually been harder and even less productive than when I am home in the U.S.  "How can that be?" you ask.  Well, let me try to explain.

First of all, I arrived in Spain on a Friday morning and I hit the ground running.  I was excited, terrified, and exhausted all at once.  I had never been to a foreign country, and to be honest, even my experiences in big cities in the U.S. were limited, so to find myself on a subway, chugging away under the streets of Madrid all by myself was exhilarating and terrifying all at once.  I found my way to my host's apartment, unpacked, and hit the streets, hoping every stranger on the street would stop to chat.  Well, that wasn't the case.  In fact, I was nervous to be walking around all alone.  I didn't know anything or anyone and I wasn't even sure I could find my way back to the apartment if I strayed too far.  My first few days here were a blur and once my vision cleared, I realized not only had I not spoken very much Spanish, I hadn't spoken much at all.

After getting myself quite lost one afternoon, I decided I had better head home, regroup, and plan things out a little better.  I realized I had locked myself into a defensive mindset.  I was constantly on edge, worried I would get lost or say or do the wrong thing.  Instinctively, my brain locked me into English.  I wasn't consciously aware of it, but I wasn't allowing myself to think in Spanish.  I think I have said it before, but for me, speaking in Spanish is like flipping a switch in my brain.  Sometimes it is very easy to switch between languages, and other times, it takes quite a bit of effort.  Since I realized the trouble I was having, the switch has been easier to flip, but I am still reverting to English too quickly.

I have two more weeks here and I am hoping I can be more diligent in thinking and then speaking in Spanish.  I know I can do it, but it has to be done consciously.  I know being out of my comfort zone has had an impact on my abilities and I am hopeful when I return to the U.S. I'll be more comfortable using the language.  We'll see. Do you think stress plays a significant role in our language learning?  I think I would have to say yes to that.  Thoughts or comments?

What's There To Be Afraid Of?

I went to dinner with two of my best friends the other night and was introduced for the first time to one of their girlfriends.  Normally, this isn't much of a big deal to me, but it just so happened that this young woman was originally from Ecuador, recently spent two months in Madrid, and obviously spoke fluent Spanish in a way that would have made me sound like a four year old boy trying to form complete sentences.

Initially, I saw this as an opportunity to really practice my Spanish conversational skills, but with each passing minute in which I spoke English, the idea of switching to Spanish drifted farther and farther from my mind.  When we all parted ways that evening I offered to spend the next time we got together speaking in Spanish, but once I got home I realized how much of an opportunity I had just wasted.  Why was I so shy about speaking to a native Spanish speaker?  Was it because I was surrounded by two English speaking friends?  Did I think she would laugh at me or was I worried that I would say something completely ridiculous, or worse, offensive?  Honestly, I think it was all of the above.  I have always had a difficult time using Spanish with someone I know speaks English as well.  In addition, since none of my friends speak anything but English, I feel silly offering to say things in Spanish when they won't understand anyway.  Sure, it might have made for a good laugh to carry on a faux conversation with her for a few moments while my friends listened in, but would it have served me well or just been a silly party trick?  I guess I can't really answer that as I didn't even take the shot.

So what's the solution?  I am leaving for Madrid in 250 days with the intention of spending every waking moment using Spanish, or at the very least, avoiding English at all costs.  Will being surrounded by only Spanish speaking people finally push me to the point that I am not afraid to speak?  More importantly, even if all goes well in Spain, will I have the confidence to continue using it when I return home?  I would hate to spend a month in a foreign country only to lose my skills upon returning home.

I know I really should just get over it.  No one is going to laugh at me, and honestly, they should be impressed, even if they don't know what I'm saying.  Going to Spain surely is a way to force myself to use the language but perhaps it's time to find other ways to force myself into using it.  I think the most important part in speaking successfully in a foreign language is simply having the confidence to do it.  For me, confidence comes and goes in waves.  Hopefully I can find a solution that brings me to the crest of one of those waves and keeps me there for at least a little while.

Thoughts and suggestions are always appreciated!  Good luck!

Buying The Ticket

I have officially purchased all of the major items I need in order to take my trip to Spain.  I have my passport, I rented a room, and just this week, I bought my ticket.  Now I just have to wait the eight months before I can fly out.

Just like learning Spanish, planning for this trip was a step by step process, and I think without the experience I have had with learning Spanish, I may have never made it this far.  I think we all have dreams and fantasies of the life experiences we want to have, but few of us manage to fulfill all of these dreams simply because we lack planning.  Now, to be fair, I have always been keen on making lists and setting dates for when I want to accomplish my goals, but one thing I have learned is that a list alone won't do it.  Sure, it's helpful to have a guide, but it's only as effective as the person who carries out the steps.  All too often I have become impatient and wanted to move forward too quickly and I think this was the cause of many of my early failures.  I have found that there needs to be a balance between giving yourself adequate time to progress versus simply waiting too long and letting opportunities pass you by.  Planning out my trip to Spain has been a learning process, and thankfully I have had help along the way in planning it all out.  Without some assistance, I think it would have fallen apart just like many of my other ideas.

I had set a goal of purchasing the plane ticket in October.  I was hoping by then the prices would be low and I would have saved ample cash to go ahead and buy it.  Of course, October was still months away when I set that goal and I watched as the prices fluctuated up and down.  Sure, I was hoping to find a great deal, but from the very beginning of planning this trip I had an idea in mind of what the ticket was going to cost me.  Well, just this week the prices went up and down like crazy and I finally decided I had to jump at the opportunity.  The price was actually a bit lower than I had planned on spending, but slightly higher than I had seen it previously.  Well, I couldn't make any more excuses.  Waiting until October was just another chance to fail in my trip.  Buying the ticket this week would solidify my trip and finally make this dream of mine  reality.  And a reality it now is.

Originally, the trip was planned for May of 2016, not 2015.  In my mind, I needed two years to prepare myself both psychologically and financially to go across the sea, when in truth, two years simply gave me enough time to find excuses not to take the trip.  A lot can happen in two years and it would have been very easy to use any little event to discourage me from going.  A year of planning is a safe goal.  It makes saving enough money a realistic possibility while at the same time keeping the idea fresh in your mind so you don't lose your motivation to go.  Now that it's official, I am aching to set sail!  Buying the ticket was another part of the process that took careful planning and making the right choice as to when to buy.

Balancing our steps isn't always easy, but it's necessary in order to succeed.  I think I found the right balance of being patient and still moving forward and thanks to my discovery, my dream of traveling to Spain is now going to be a reality!

Jumping In The Deep End

Officially, I've been studying Spanish since the Summer of 2008, but I have been surrounded by the language nearly my whole life.  I took classes in high school and even before that I always had access to Spanish television on cable.  I worked with Spanish speakers in my very first job and it was here that my passion for the language developed but when I look back on my early days of working, I see how many opportunities I really missed because I was too timid to talk.

Even to this day, confidence plays a huge role in being able to speak Spanish.  I often realize, sometimes too late, that I actually know more than I give myself credit for and will many times shy away from speaking not because I don't know how to say something, but because there is that lingering doubt that maybe, just maybe, I'm not going to say the right thing.  Fear in language learning is a silly thing and I attribute a great deal of the fear we feel to the way we are taught languages in school.  Like every other subject we face, our language classes are based on a pass/fail grading system.  I may very well have been able to carry on a conversation with ease even as far back as my days in high school, but because I was constantly being graded on using the correct verb tense or placing the accent mark over the proper vowel, my overall score wasn't nearly as high as I would have liked and it made me feel as if I wasn't successful in learning.  This "failure" at learning left me feeling like I didn't really know the language and for that I didn't want to sound silly attempting to talk to native speakers.  Although I may not know the solution to how we can improve our language learning classes, I will say that the way it is done now is simply not effective.

If I had the chance to go back and talk to my teenage self, I would tell myself to just talk.  Jump right in and speak.  Don't be afraid to use the present tense instead of the preterit, and don't worry if you use the "tu" form instead of the "usted" form.  Sure, foreign language can be intimidating, but we can't just dip our toes in the water and hope for the best.  If we're going to be successful, we need to jump in the deep end right from the start and learn to swim as we go.  I've read countless forum posts debating the value of studying grammar first or memorizing hundreds of vocabulary words before ever uttering your first phrase.  Now, I suppose if you're learning a foreign language for academic reasons, then by all means, study that grammar, but if you're like me, trying to simply learn how to talk to other people, who cares if you know why you say it that way as long as you know it's right, or even close enough.

Look, I am a perfectionist when it comes to my hobbies.  When I first started out, I bought every book, studied every vocabulary word, hammered home every verb tense in an effort to be a Spanish speaking machine.  I didn't just want to speak Spanish, I wanted to be a walking Spanish dictionary.  Then it hit me.  What's the point?  Most of the Spanish speakers I come across will be just like me when it comes to English.  Sure, I'm fluent in English, but that doesn't mean I am a walking dictionary or thesaurus.  In fact, when it comes to English grammar, I struggle mightily, but that doesn't stop me from writing these endless blog posts!

We have to get over our fear and realize in the real world, outside academia, no one is judging us on how we speak.  OK, no one wants to sound ignorant, which is why we ask for help along the way, but I would much rather learn as I go by talking with live people than sit at home with a grammar book all day long, never interacting with anyone.  So do it.  Jump in the deep end and start talking.  Make mistakes. Sound silly.  Ignore all those people who tell you you'll never get it.  I think you'll find great satisfaction in the conversations you have.