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Wow, let me just say that all of my life I've loved talking to foreigners. There was the kid from Italy in ninth grade, the kid from Germany in eleventh grade, and the handful of Asians in 12th grade. Now the tables have turned, and as I try and integrate myself, I'm the foreigner everyone wants to introduce to their culture. Everywhere that I go, as soon as I speak people ask me where I'm from, why I'm here, and how long I'm staying…it's gotten to the point where I've memorized my responses and spout them out faster than they can ask. When strangers hear my accent, they also do nice things for me (case 1: got a latte at Starbucks today for the price of regular coffee and was served before everyone else in line).
Now that I've bought a few Argentinian sweatshirt to compensate for not bringing winter clothes and have gotten an Argentinian hair cut, I've started to blend in with my surroundings. Still, material goods and my external appearence can only get me so far. When I first start to speak with an accent, Sometimes they say, "Wow, I thought you were Argentinian at first, but you speak well also" (that's a compliment, I guess!) *
I realize just how difficult it must have been for exchange students who came to my high school way back when. It's hard to immerse yourself in another language! When I sit down with my classmates in a café after class, I have to wait about 10 when I can't understand what people say, but after about 10 minutes, their fast talk materializes into frases and ideas. In other words, for me, there's a transition period between languages. When I do make the switch though though, speaking and listening are much easier. Still, concentration is required to stay in the Spanish mindset and tell and hear jokes. Sometimes, in a Spanish environment, I try to keep my mind from straying in English because it's harder to understand the spanish around me when it does. It's kind of like the "pink elephant" phenomenon, where if you you try not to think about the elephant, you are going to think about you know what. I've taken to reading a local book or newspaper on the way to class to prepare myself to speak and listen to Spanish. My experience is different from those kids in highschool. I go to a couple classes a day and do a few cultural and social events in spanish whereas These students heard english all day in and after school! In retrospect, I have a new respect and admiration for what they did. I hope that with a month left to go, I continue to make progress on my journey to complete fluency.
- comments
Stuart Do you ever dream in Spanish? When you dream in the second or third language, you have integrated the language into your being.
Marsha So interesting to get this new perspective on things. Do you think that the attention you need to focus on Spanish reduces your self consciousness and makes it easier to be in the"moment"?
Marsha Hi Jer. I'm eager to see your argentinian haircut! Send a picture?