Become bilingual by learning Spanish

This goal had to be marked finished because I will never be fluent in Spanish but I am (or was) at a level where I could communicate with any Spanish speaker (although some accents are more intelligible for me) on any topic. I can incorporate all verb tenses, although the subjunctive is still a pain in speech.

Of course, it is also a goal that I want to repeat. Referring to the continuous process that I may lose the language if I dont’ actively work to keep it. I can feel it slipping from my grasp as I type, in English. About once a week I am meeting with a woman near my home who immigrated from MExico with her family five years ago. This was so rewarding and it didnt’ hurt to do most of the learning in Peru. A beautiful place, I recommend

I fly to Cusco on Wednesday. Goodbye comfort zone.

It is official: I booked my ticket to Peru. I will be spending September to early December learning Spanish and volunteering in Cuzco. Hoot. Now all of the preparation is to come which I really think I will enjoy. I bought “The Rough Guide to Peru” to help me plan, booked an immunization appointment, started looking into smaller digital cameras and have to get all my banking in order. Of course there is much more but it is a start. Any tips about traveling by oneself for a long period of time would be appreciated. Or just travel tips in general.

But nonetheless I will go somewhere! I had declined the mexico exchange with my heart set on south america. It is more affordable anyway. With the help of a professor that for some reason loves me I applied to go to Argentina on a letter of permission. That means that i would be doing basically what i had planned before, taking classes, but just not through my uni hear so the tuition would be way cheaper. Now i’m almost hoping I don’t get accepted though, I have been looking into Chile and Ecuador and even Peru and I would love to go with a language school there. It is a little more difficult because right now it looks like I would have to go it alone but it happens. The best part about doing it through a language school is that I would live with a local family! I hope they have a dog. I’ve always wanted a dog. Also, if I go to Argentina I have to leave at the beginning of august…but the other way I can leave any time I want so that would allow me to build up some more funds beforehand. I guess we’ll see….

It’s official. I have not been accepted to go to Argentina. I’m still a bit in shock. Everyone (even the professors involved in the process) kept saying how I had nothing to worry about, it wasn’t widely advertised, etc. etc. Well, apparently 30 people applied and only 3 were chosen. I was however accepted to go to Mexico. It’s just not South America tho! I have to decide if I will go to mexico with the university or find another way to go to South America in the fall. I will not give up though!

I have done it! I applied, filled out the form, finished (and passed!) the language proficiency test. Well it ended up being a really short conversation and the professor just relying on my performance in his class last year. My current professor said that she will recommend me to go to Argentina and she is the one who makes the decisions! The official acceptances (or rejections) will be by March 1st! Oh its looking good, i must go!

This coming week I have to do a Language Proficiency Test in order to apply for exchange to Argentina. I didn’t realize this until a few days ago and it is making me nervous. I do very well in spanish class but I am a bit shy and my conversational could use some work. I’ll just be crushed if my Spanish isn’t good enough, this is so far the only plan I have for after school is over and, not gonna lie, it is what makes me wake up in the mornings. Wish me luck!

Una amiga y yo hemos sido escribir los mensajes electronicos en espanol. Quiero conocer mas personas que yo puedo practicar con.

I am just about to take my final exam for my third semester of Spanish at university. After next semester I will have four courses completed and be able to apply for exchanges to Spanish speaking countries. In January I will be putting in my application to spend on semester in Argentina! Wow, South America, there will be so much to see and learn! If am accepted I would be living in a small Argentinian city and attending a small university, taking classes entirely in Spanish. That will be a huge challenge but it will help me to finally realize my goal of being bilingual. I hope I get accepted!

Being home for the summer I already feel like I’ve lost my ability to create Spanish sentences outloud, ie. to speak it. I need to find someone around here to practice with. Finding someone Italian would be no problem, however, not exactly the same.
I took out a novel from the public library on top of all the grammar and exercise books I took out to give myself a challenge. A challenge is what I got. This could take my whole life to finish haha. it is “Cronica de una muerte anunciada” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I have finished one page and 1/4. That took 20 minutes. It is good for me though. Maybe I should have started with children’s books….