I’m not going to lie, I’m a little nervous about learning Spanish. You see, with the last three languages I’ve learned, people were impressed that I could even say “hello.” Nothing brings a smile to a local’s face like “Nihao” pronounced with the right tone or “Sawatdeeka” or “Namaskaram” with the correct hand gesture. Somehow I don’t foresee “Hola” having the same effect, no matter how nicely I say it.
The thing is, people speak Spanish. A lot of people. In a lot of countries. And many of them aren’t even native speakers. That’s a lot of competition! Okay, I know learning languages isn’t really a race or a competition. But I guess being unique in learning a language takes away feelings of embarrassment at potential mispronunciations and broken sentences.
Also, I already know the basics so I’m a little unsure where to start. There are certain types of words and phrases that I make a point of learning first when I move to a country. But since my K-6 Spanish has ensured that I already know these words it looks like I’ll be jumping into something a bit more complicated right away, namely, grammar. I think the easiest way to tackle this will be to take a formal class. Especially because, even after the last months with Telugu, I’m still not used to conjugation and tenses again! Nonetheless, all explanations aside, it’s strange to feel hesitant about what should be my easiest language learning experience thus far.
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