Hablas Espanol?

A little known fact about me is that I’ve actually been learning Spanish for about 3 years. 

I always wanted to learn and at school I studied some Japanese but mostly French; my French is good enough that I can get by in French speaking places relatively well, such as when I travelled solo into the very depths of France to see Lascaux, though by now I’m pretty rusty. Nothing some refresher time on Duolingo can’t fix. 

And Duolingo is exactly the tool I’ve been using to learn Spanish. 

Back in 2019 when I was devastatingly heartbroken I threw myself into doing things to keep busy. I did a lot of shopping, spent a lot of time (more than usual, even) with friends and going on solo adventures, and went on a spontaneous trip to Fiji with one of my besties - before my actual planned trip to Japan with a different bestie. During that time I first signed up to Duolingo and amongst all my other grand plans I decided that not only was I going to finally learn Spanish I’d try to brush up on both my Japanese and French whilst also try to learn Hindi. 

My grandad speaks passable Hindi and one of my best friends speaks it fluently, so I wanted to embrace that part of my heritage and learn too. But Hindi is HARD. I had to take an indefinite break from Hindi not too long after starting because my intelligence started to take the hit and I couldn’t actually pursue any of the other languages I wanted at the same time. 

For those of you who have never used Duolingo, the free version anyway, you get a certain amount of hearts per day (usually 5) which correlate to mistakes you can make during daily lessons. When you run out of hearts you have to wait a few hours (maybe about 8) for them to respawn and you can keep going. Learning Hindi I’d run out of hearts really quickly and it effectively prevented me from continuing for the rest of the day, whereas with French, Japanese and Spanish I could get through a couple of lessons before I’d run out and sometimes be able to switch between the languages daily. 

With a basic knowledge of Japanese and Latin languages generally (which includes French, Italian and Spanish) learning these languages are relatively easy. Hindi, however, is a whole other planet with some hard to distinguish sounds, a whole new alphabet and a conjunction style similar to written German (long words). I was so out of my depth, so I had to stop. I like to think I’ll go back to Hindi some day but its probably akin to doing Masters and/or a PhD at this stage when it might need to be when I’m retired and financially secure. 

So, especially after my latest Japan trip came and went, I really just decided to focus on Spanish. Plus two of my best friends are fluent Spanish speakers with their wider circles also including native Spanish speakers from varying Latin American countries. Duolingo is a great language learning tool (this is not sponsored by Duolingo) but it makes it a lot easier to learn Spanish when you’re surrounded by Spanish speakers. Plus, reggaeton and other Latin music styles are some of my most favourite ever and it also helps me learn by trying to translate the lyrics - which are often low-key super sexual more often than not. 

I took a little break from actively learning on Duolingo for the better part of last year so I’m getting back into it now and it really is like riding a bike (an ironic idiom for me nowadays as I physically cannot ride a bike without a lot of tailbone pain). It’s been surprisingly easy but very rewarding to get back to where I was before my break - I’m actually ok at Spanish. 

It’s also my long-standing dream, and in-joke with my mother, to shout ‘Hablas Espanol!’ At people like Brendan Fraser in Bedazzled. 

Are you learning a language right now? Is it something you’ve wanted to do but haven’t gotten around to it? Is it Spanish even? 

Learning a new language, other than your native tongue, is a supremely challenging but rewarding experience and I do really recommend it to anyone interested - whatever the language. It could be Klingon or Elvish even - the possibilities are endless. After Spanish, maybe I’ll go renew my French, level up in Japanese and after that - who knows? Portuguese, German, Italian, try Hindi again? Mandarin? Esperanto? 

We’re never going to have a global language, at least in the near future, so why not try a different one? Plus I live for the day that I can speak Spanish fluently, rather than staring in awe at the attractive woman in the bathroom at the nightclub in Madrid and not being able to respond when French and English didn’t work. 

Sam xox

P.S Once again, I’m generally not proof reading or editing these blogs - don’t come for me about any spelling or grammar mistakes. I know they sneak in there sometimes. 

P.P.S I’m supposed to be back at work and finishing up my current job over the next two weeks but ask me how motivated I am for that when I’ve already mentally checked out. Fresh start here I come after Jan 21st!