- Mi bueno amigo, Richard. We have been in the same classes for three months, will graduate on the same day and have talked and talked and talked in Spanish. Thank you Richard for your intellect, patience and great good humor.
To learn to speak a second language you must speak it. Now this is so basic and obvious one wonders why it is a difficult concept to implement. There is always an excuse for not speaking Spanish. Ask me. My accent is poor. I make so many mistakes. Everyone has to wait for me to translate their question before I answer. Blah, Blah, Blah.
My biggest achievement in the last few weeks is that “I Am Speaking Spanish!” Granted, it is haltingly with many mistakes. No matter, my learning process took a big leap forward. And being able to converse with a friend in Spanish is delightful. In class we have talked about our family, our travels, recycling, literature, nationalism, internationalism, US politics, Mexican history and culture, Texans and Texas, Belgium and Holland, music, US economy, climate change, Day of the Dead, individualism and collectivism, Mayans and pyramids, wine, extreme sports, earthquakes, cuisines, the Middle East, socialized medicine, compassion, film, our communities and, of course, Guanajuato.
My teachers say it takes 5 to 7 years to speak a second language fluently and many more years to learn the subtle nuances of the language. This is just the beginning.
MedFlies 
How true that is about having to “speak” it. I can hardly speak it in the languages I learned. We lived in Germany (during the war) spoke Polish at home, took French, English and Latin in school. I can’t even say “hello” except in English 😦
How I envy you speaking all of those languages. They are still there somewhere. I will bet if you went to Poland or France some would come back.
Gracias amiga¡
Sent from my iPad
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Da nada.
According to Google Translate: ¡Enhorabuena! I say plainly: CONGRATULATIONS!
Gracias, Derek.