The Fascination of Language

Learning how to teach English last year while trying to learn Spanish really increased my interest in languages and linguistics. And now that I am surrounded by people who are completely bilingual and trilingual (my students, as well as people I meet), my fascination with language learning is bordering on the obsessive!

Tessa and I were just discussing how amazing it is to hear people go in and out of two languages so effortlessly and with perfect accents in both. We constantly ask ourselves how it's possible! For kids who are brought up bilingually, it makes more sense. But when meeting adults who picked up a second or third language later in life, it's even more amazing.

I'm happy to say that my Spanish is getting a lot better. However, I can have days where I don't have to speak any Spanish unless I choose to! It's amazing how living abroad doesn't make language learning that much easier unless you are immersed in it everyday.

In my determination to speak Spanish fluently, I am constantly making observations about language and the way people speak. I've noticed a few things:

*The first language you start speaking with someone ultimately determines the language you will continue to use the most with this person. Puja had said this to me last year in Sevilla and it's so true! This is the reason I always try to use Spanish when introducing myself and starting conversations with someone who may be a native Spanish speaker.

*When someone has learned a second language, even if they are fluent in it, I think they are forced to be more honest when speaking. I struggle to even get my point across in Spanish these days; I can't begin to imagine how I would stretch the truth or talk around a subject in a believable way! If someone is an honest person, they're honest - and if they are speaking in their second language, I think it makes them even more so.

*Since moving to Spain, part of me has wanted to meet a guy whose English is worse than my Spanish in order for me to learn more. However, I've been thinking that with my level of Spanish, it would make for some really tricky conversations! There is something so important about being able to communicate, especially feelings and stories and emotions, that are much more easily portrayed in a language both people can speak and understand. So, although my idea of meeting a Spanish man and only speaking in Spanish is quite romantic, I don't know if it would lead to the best reality!

And so, I am determined to not leave this country until I can speak fluently. I'm not so sure how that will happen, but in the meantime, my love affair with language, particularly Spanish, will continue . . .