Where am I at? If you can´t tell from my FIRST sentance of this entry that my language skills are not so good…
However, I am learning a lot of Spanish here, and I am really really happy that I chose to come down here and study/acclimate myself to the language first. I try to read the newspaper (La Nacion, and for those who care that is the dry conservative one for rich people, mostly because the more socially/politically critical one is more anylitical, you have to know the news to understand it….so I am trying to know the news), or at least a few articles, every day and I try to spend a lot of time talking with my host mother, or my instructors. I have gone out twice now with my host mother´s daughter, and it has been really fun.
But I am by NO MEANS all kinds of confident. While I can make my way around the city, and ask for whatever I need, and make my opinions and needs heard, I still don´t have the finer points down at all. My grammer is still really really basic, and it is hard, because people dumb down their grammer to talk to me. Grammer is really hard to build when you don´t hear it a lot. You can´t just learn it by studying it, you really need to get out their and mimick people. That is what telenovelas are great for…but my host mom doesn´t watch TV. So when we do grammer lessons in class, they always bring me to my knees!
The vocabulary is a whole other beast. While I have been reading the paper every day, and looking up works and making a really good literary dictionary, and when I see the word again I can recognize it…and everyday I am reading faster and faster….that doesn´t mean that I can call the word to mind when I need it. So my writing is still really really basic. My instructor keeps telling me that I am not pushing myself in my writings. And god only knows what I am going to do when I have to write grants and silibi for classes! I can´t have this basic vocabulary and grammer when writing professionally! AHHHH! It´s hard to use a word when you have only seen it written a few times….BUT I WILL PERSEVER! I will fight for my Spanish like the Latinos fight for their rights….with emotion….passion….and socialism….what?
and dedication! keep on keeping on.
Hola mi amiga!
Yo soy la primera de Joy, de Detroit y Nueva Jersey.
Como estas?
Buenas suerte con su espanol! Mi amiga es una profesora de espanol. Si quisiera, ella email es vitale@uwindsor.ca. Se llama Rosanna Vitale. Ellas es muy simpatica y es una profesora bonita! Lo siento por mi espanol! Mi grammatica es muy mal tambien, ahora mismo. Pero, no te preocupuedes! Todos estan bien.
Debemos practicar nuestra espanol, escritando, por email!
Muchos besos!
Megan