Monday, July 18, 2011

“A different language is a different vision of life.” -Federico Fellini

The entire purpose of my coming to Costa Rica was to learn Spanish. Of course, traveling, meeting interesting people, and learning about another culture followed close behind. My first day of school I met a professor, and as I struggled to speak Spanish with him, I apologized and told him my Spanish was bad (as if he couldn’t tell). Right then and there, he told me that I could never say those words again. And I haven’t. I have also never said my Spanish is good, but that will come in the future. If someone asks, I say its improving, or I’m learning a lot. Nevertheless, I have been taking Spanish classes for three months now, four hours every day, and I feel that I have have become infinitely better at speaking Spanish. When I arrived I felt that my abuela tica (Costa Rican grandma) was speaking gibberish. I understood about ten percent of what she said and reacted to her facial expressions for the rest.

Now, however, I understand nearly everything she says. I may not understand every single word, but I always know what she is talking about. I converse with her every day over breakfast and say hi to the venders that regularly sell things on my street. This feeling of finally knowing what is going on around me is great. By no means have I mastered this great language. But every day I get better. Mi español mejora cada día.

1 comment: