Poco a Poco.......with a little humor thrown in :)

Yes, it’s me….I’m finally writing a blog…..but it’s going to be short…..cause I kind of need to get some sleep…..

This week, one of our teachers said that we’re suppose to note our progress, as we journey through these months of language learning, because we can use all the encouragement that we can get….( lol :)

Okay, that’s not exactly how she said it….What she was getting at was the importance of taking notice of the moments when things click and we remember how to conjugate a certain verb in the right tense, or when that word we couldn’t think of miraculously comes to mind at the right time, or that day when we go to a restaurant and are able to make ourselves understood and can order the item on the menu that we want…..and actually get what we want because we used the right words to order it…....you get the idea…..

She was encouraging us to mark our milestones in this language learning journey, to note our progress, to celebrate those small victories as ways of encouraging ourselves and our classmates to NOT. GIVE. UP. EVER.…...All the while, remembering that language learning is a labour of love.

So, today I’m marking a milestone! :) When I arrived here in Mexico in January, I knew all of one word in Spanish - the universal Hola! When people would ask me if I knew, spoke or understood Spanish, my go to answer was an emphatic shaking of my head followed by a very clear, “No. No Español.” But I have been faithfully attending classes for 3 months (even though the temptation to play hooky has crossed my mind once or twice...there’s a really great ice cream place not to far from our house…..;) and so I had to answer honestly today when someone asked me if I knew Español. 

I smiled (and this time nodded, rather then shook my head) and answered with these words.

“Un poco.” (Which means a little).

As I reflected on this later, I became excited that my “no” answer had changed to “a little” answer and I realized this was a “take note and mark it as a milestone occasion”!!!! 

YAY!!!! And now that you are all celebrating with me…….maybe it’s not a good time to tell you that after I gave my “un poco” answer, the man started to talk to me in Spanish and although I smiled and nodded my head and said “gracias”, I understood absolutely NOTHING that he said to me.

Sigh…...talk about taking the wind out of my sails and the joy out of my “take note and mark it as a milestone occasion.”

Oh well, as my husband’s sister so kindly told me, “It takes 7 years to become a proficient speaker of another language.” 

Great...I have 3 months down and 81 to go…….

So I will keep plugging away at language school reminding myself daily that this is a labour of love and that 

word by word, 

        verb by verb, 

       phrase by phrase…and...

…poco a poco (little by little)...my Spanish will come...eventually ;)

~Karlene