Elsja Down Under

Notes on Spanish June 19, 2008

Now that I am taking a Spanish class, I have started to notice a few things…

1. I accidentally said “si” instead of yes at a Mexican restaurant when the cashier asked me a question. It just came out! I’ll be conversing in NO time!

2. If I could take Spanish every day for an hour- like they do in high school… I’d DEFINITELY be fluent after 4 years. But when I DID have this opportunity in high school… I just didn’t care enough to study! Oh, and I also didn’t take Spanish- I took French. So there’s no possible way I REALLY could be fluent in Spanish by now, so I don’t feel bad.

3. With that said, I think Spanish is WAY easier than French- but maybe that’s just because I was 15 and had a Nazi devil teacher when I tried to learn dear ol’ Francais. (Andrew thinks saying a French man was a Nazi is contradictory… so instead- I’ll just say that he was a giant dick)!

4. And… with THAT said, I’m surprised how much French still comes back to me while I’m in my Spanish class. I think I could easily get languages mixed up if I actually knew more than one.

5. I find myself singing Sublime songs in my head. That English/Spanish blend always had me thrown for a loop. I never understood anything- but that didn’t stop me from singing some butchered “Spanish” right along while driving in my car. But now, I’m starting to actually understand bits and pieces of the songs. So I just repeat those lines in my head over and over and over… it’s kinda driving me nuts.

6. On that note… do you know the Aussies I’ve met (Ok maybe I’ve only ever tested this with Andrew) have never heard of Sublime? Seriously… how have you not heard of Sublime??? I’d like to point out they aren’t my favorite band or anything- so I’m not really sure why I’ve just mentioned them TWICE in one single blog.

6. I still would like to go to some Latin country for 4 weeks to learn Spanish. I was planning on doing that 2 years ago, but then I met a certain someone and came to a certain country in the southern hemisphere for 5 weeks instead!

7. I’m AMAZED at how much Spanish I already know just from growing up in southern California.

8. Aussies have the HARDEST time pronouncing Spanish words. I feel bad for them.

9. The enchiladas and guacamole I make are freaking wonderful! (ok, I didn’t really realize that after taking my Spanish class, I always knew that).

10. I don’t really know why I want to learn Spanish so bad. It will do me no good here. I guess I’ll have to travel a lot.