I haven´t posted in a while because I´ve been busy soaking in this incredible city. When I arrived here about a week and half ago, I had only planned on staying a few days. But I keep staying.
First of all, my Spanish is infinitely better than my Italian, in that I could never actually speak Italian, I just got along with little phrases. Here in Spain, I´m kind of like an Advanced Beginner. At first it was tricky because I would say per favore (Italiano), rather than por favor, or permiso instead of perdon, things like that. And I would kick myself for forgetting so many basics, like right and left (derecha y izquierda) or the verb for return (volver). But I´m slowly allowing the Italian palabras to fade into the background so I can practice en Espanol.
The people here are encouraging and tell me I have a decent accent. So initially I was feeling pretty good. But when I´m in a group of people all talking at once, or I want to talk about something a little more contemplative, it turns out I´m not so amazing afterall. I find myself remembering all the years I sat in the back of my classroom, listening in while my ten year old students had their Spanish class. I understood everything and would sometimes laugh along with the Professora who would make comments in Spanish that the kids didn´t always understand. I thought I was awesome. But here, I´ve realized that this means that I have the same level of vocabulary and competency as a ten year old. Pero me gusta hablar español y si quiero mejorar, todo lo que tengo que hacer es practicar, practicar, practicar : )
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