When making my decision to live and teach abroad three years ago, a major concern for me was language. How will I communicate? How will I get what I need? Will the locals understand me? How will I make friends? Learning the spoken language is obviously one of the most essential steps in getting to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘learning a language’
July 10th, 2011 - 8:05 am § in Ecuador, Tips & Resources
3 Good Reasons to Learn Spanish
Last Tuesday I attended the weekly “Intercambio de Lenguas” (Language Exchange) here in Quito. Interacting socially in another language definitely put my Spanish to the test- outside of my work vocabulary, which is a lot of banking and microfinance language, I’m not quite as eloque[...]
Why yes, I am proficient in English, Spanish, and Venezuelan
When I meet someone for the first time here, I can predict the first two minutes of conversation down to the word. I’m asked how long I’ve been in Venezuela, what I think of the country (or the people, or the political situation), why I came, and then someone comments on my Spanish: “Per[...]
Do I Even Speak Spanish?
Ever since my first trip to Costa Rica a year ago, I have been bragging to my Canadian friends about my new trilingual status. I have a minimal formal Spanish education (beginners Spanish at university, which I barely passed) and I have never lived in a Spanish speaking country other than Costa Rica[...]
August 19th, 2010 - 7:49 am § in Around Town, Culture, Good Ideas, Guatemala, In the Field, Volunteer
Lessons in Purchasing Power and Investment
I have tried my hardest over the past few years to bury the key concepts and bold lettering that were force fed in business school, a process heavily aided by the acquisition of two new languages and ether-like Chinese rice wine. Last week, however, I was reminded of the purchasing power of American[...]
The Multiple Personalities of You
I suspect I wasn’t the only grade school Spanish language learner for whom the vosotros form had a sort of rogue ninja presence. Easily avoidable in classroom skits, it would spring out of the shadows at the most inopportune moments (usually, a pop quiz) to remind us that no, we didn’t h[...]
Wrapping My Brain (and Tongue) Around Spanish
My uvula shook as I said the word despejar.: “Despehhhhar.” My friend Pilar smiled. “You sound Spanish,” she said.* “Huh?” I kind of thought that was the point. “The ‘hhhh.’” she said. “That’s from Spain. Listen: ‘dehar,’” she said, using a shorter a[...]
