You can teach an old dog new tricks!

In my head I have a list. These days you would call it a ‘bucket list’ I suppose, but it is a list of things I would like to achieve before my time is up. It does change from time to time when I see something or read about something really good but many of the things have stayed the same. It is a combination of places I would like to visit, things I would like to do and other random things that are important to me.

One of the things on that list was to learn Spanish. I studied French at University and teach French and I consider myself to be very lucky to be able to speak another language. But I have always had a yearning to learn a third language.

Over the years, I have wavered between Spanish and Italian, both have similarities with French and I would happily spend time in either country. When I accompanied a group of students to Spain a few years ago and as a first time visitor to the country I liked what I saw. Sunny beaches, warm weather, beautiful cities and friendly people. I thought that I would find the language easy to pick up having a knowledge of French. I was wrong.

It was so frustrating trying to make myself understood and struggling and I came back from that trip determined to learn Spanish. I bought a couple of teach yourself books with cassettes (we are going back a few years here) and I vowed that I would set aside some time each week to learn a few words and phrases.I did start but then there was always something more important to do and the books gathered dust on the shelf.

I often have often glanced wistfully at the books and thought about restarting or even better doing evening classes and there are so many ways of learning languages these days; from online tutoring, apps that you can have on your phone, online courses and interactive websites, there really is no excuse. Well apart from the lack of time which has always been mine.

Last summer,  I was offered a part time teaching job going into teach taster sessions of German and Spanish to middle school students.  I was told that it was only basic information and as I knew enough German to get by, I took the job.  As the summer passed, I started to worry about the Spanish.  I knew how to teach of course but I had to learn the language myself in order to teach it well.

So I made a list of the topics I wanted to teach; choosing topics that I thought would be interesting and useful, then I looked for resources and finally I used an iPhone app and websites to start learning.  I can honestly say that in those early weeks, I found it tough.  My brain is so crammed full of blogging and children and everything else, it felt like there was no room for anything new at all.  The first few lessons went well and even though I didn’t feel confident a few students asked me if I was Spanish.

Six months later and I was really happy to see that not only had my students learnt a lot but so had I.  I am not fluent, far from it, but I can speak Spanish a little.  We would love to take the children on holidays to Spain. I know that I would be able to hold basic conversations and ask for things in a shop or restaurant which would be a huge improvement on the last time I visited this sunny country.

Reflecting back on the experience now, I am really glad that I have finally made a start in my quest to learn another language.  Whilst the job forced my hand, it has proved to me that I can still do it even with my tired, over-worked brain and I am itching to learn more and I am absolutely certain that a very long holiday in Spain would definitely help with that, don’t you think?

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