Learn Spanish

In January I did my three week intensive Spanish course. It was too short. They really crammed us full of information. We went through all the grammar and a ton of vocabulary. My class was fairly large so we didn’t get to speak individually as much as I would have liked but I have definitely improved and am better able to speak with my husband. I still feel far from fluent. I just need to continue looking for opportunities to speak the language. I don’t want to loose what I’ve learned.

I spoke to my employers today about taking the time off to do an intensive language program and they thought it was a GREAT idea! I was totally scared to ask as well. I guess you should never be afraid to at least ask, you never know what you’ll get. So, starting at the beginning of January I will be taking intensive Spanish!

There is a first class intensive language program at a school right down the street from my house. I have always wanted to attend the program for a language, any language. I’ve decided to bite the bullet and my fear and request time off of work in order to do the intensive Spanish program (it’s a three week program in January). It would be like a dream come true for me and it would really push me ahead in my Spanish fluency. I know I need structure, good teaching and regular practice in order to get anywhere. How am I ever going to learn if I don’t get proactive.

I just had a great opportunity to practice my Spanish and it wasn’t as terrible as I would have thought. A lady came into my office who spoke very little English so we did a sort of Spanglish thing and got through quite well! I understood her more than I would have thought as well. My confidence is definitely boosted a bit. It’s such a great feeling when you can have someone understand your meaning in a different language, even if your speach isn’t perfect.

I made an attempt to start reading a Harry Potter book in Spanish and realized I’m not quite at that level yet. So, I shuffled around the library and found a tape/book set called Spanish in Three Months. I started listening to it in the car this morning on my way to work. Hopefully it will help refresh my memory and teach me some new words and phrases.

I had a bit of fun with this Web site for children. Some of the games don’t work that well and you can’t have access to other lessons unless you become a member, but I did learn a few Spanish words for colors that I didn’t know before! That’s something right!

http://www.angelfire.com/de/cuento/color/inicial0.html

As part of this goal I am going to make the effort to read one Spanish language Web site each week. It can be anything, news, personal, shopping, etc. As long as I am getting some contemporary Spanish in my head each day. As I sit in front of a computer at work, it shouldn’t be to hard to take a short break now and then and learn a new word or two.

This goal fits with a couple other of my language goals. I took Spanish for three years in high school then put it on the shelf to study Italian, French and German in college. I’m going to try and pick it up again as it’s the most available so to speak. My cousin’s wife is from Columbia and I am determined to make Spanish our “common” language that we speak together. My husband can also speak Spanish so I have the ability to practice at home. There are also about a million and one Spanish radio stations, TV stations, books and sites on the Internet that I can use for my learning. There is no reason that I shouldn’t be fairly fluent within a year. If I’m not then I’m being terribly lazy and I’ll be very mad at myself!