My First Time Ever Learning Spanish
First and foremost, I must mention that my mother language is Malagasy. I was very fluent in it early in my life, because I was raised in it even after my family immigrated to Canada. The next language I got familiar with was then French, because living in society in general required me to be fluent in it. I am not sure exactly if that early exposure to two different languages laid in me the foundation of acquiring other ones, but I truly believe that it gave me an advantage. Do not get discouraged if that is not you though, because there are literally millions of learners out there who succeeded even as adults who only spoke one language growing up. Nonetheless, my life went by until I had my first ever Spanish class during second grade of primary school. I remember back then not having any major issues with the pronunciations and my teacher complemented me on it which was flattering 😊. I had Spanish classes for two hours a week during four years of primary school (Grades 2,3,4 and 5). In Grade 3, we even had an end of the year show in Spanish and we sang Spanish choir songs. Outside of classes, I never spoke it nor used it under any circumstances whatsoever. I never wrote nor read in it and I never relied on it to get by in life. At the same time, it was not obvious to me that I had to take it seriously. Interestingly, I think it is also worth mentioning that I began learning English while simultaneously learning French and Spanish. I remember significantly improving my English by speaking with a close friend of mine who was much better than me. I look back at that experience as the most important catalyst when it comes to learning a new language. I was unaware of available technologies or study hacks. Instead, I relied purely on learning with a fluent speaker on the spot naturally and sort of grow organically from there. Of course, nowadays, I rely heavily on technology and proven study methods, but I am aware that it can only get me so far as remembering concepts and words without actually being articulate nor quick thinking on my feet.
2 Years Of Spanish Classes During High School
Two years went by after graduating primary school and on my 3rd and 4th years of high school, I was required to take Spanish classes again. By that time, three years have gone by since my last Spanish classes and I forgot everything except a few basic words and pronunciations. Thus, I had to re-learn everything and I was required to write short essays and do some oral presentations. I had Spanish classes for three hours a week and for two school years. Once again, outside of classes, I never used it for anything. I was not the best at it either compared to my peers, but I was not struggling necessarily. I remembered how to pronounce and we learned more about the grammar which I found to be very similar to French. Regardless, my motivation to excel at it was not there and I was honestly only just doing it, because it was mandatory. I did not hate it, but I was indifferent. Of course, it was cool to show off, but even that gets old and stupid quickly 😅.
I Gave Up 3 More Times
I gave up learning Spanish after graduating high school. Instead, mostly from watching a lot of Naruto in primary and high school, I got inspired to learn Japanese to study and live in Japan. In my final year of high school, I discovered a scholarship that lets anyone do just that. I then became so obsessed at trying to win it, because it was the only logical way I could study and live there without any money. It was enough to cover all of my living expenses and at that time as a high school student with no savings, it was the dream. I would say that I self-taught myself the language pretty intensively during my post-secondary studies. I learned Japanese characters while in the bus on my way to school, made a lot of flashcards, listened to music on my way back home and studied it on several nights. However, as I have mentioned in other articles, over the years, my odds of getting the scholarship kept diminishing. My school grades were dropping badly, I did not accomplish anything relevant to win it other than working part-time to afford living in the city and I could not get hired for any engineering internships. My mental health also just crumbled until I gave up on learning Japanese eventually by the end of my second year of university. I consider it to be one of my major life career/education failures. In my third year of university, during my part-time work shift, a work colleague of mine said something while we were all just chatting that really stuck with me. In her own words, she said:
I have studied Spanish for so long during all of my high school, but I am still horrible at it and I can’t even have basic conversations. A big life goal of mine would be to become fluent in it one day.
A previous work colleague
To this very day as I am writing this article, I still remember this, because she had been through the same journey and she nailed it.
So that moment briefly rekindled my Spanish studying and I decided to sign up on Duolingo to learn it through games. I had no structure while I was learning it and I was just hoping in whenever I felt like it without any real progress. A couple months went by of just sporadic study sessions until I gave up at it…
In 2021, during the pandemic, I was on a video call with a friend of mine and he recommended me the book called Atomic Habits. That inspired me to follow all the tricks in that book and setup an atomic habit of learning Spanish using Duolingo. That went on for probably three months until… I gave up again. (A seemingly unbreakable curse don’t you think?)
I Don’t Want History To Repeat Itself Anymore…
Two years later after the last time I gave up, I shifted my life goals completely from my field of study and decided to try and make a living creating content through blogging and videos. I realized that since I wanted to travel, I might as well just become fluent in Spanish while doing so. Every day, it dawns on me that I have unfinished business with it and that given all these years, my level should be on par with my French and English. It is hard to describe, but there is a void in me for not having mastered it. When you learn a language that long and you still can’t become fluent, you sorta feel like you owe it to yourself. My intention now is to travel directly to Spanish speaking countries and just be immersed in it. I no longer have enough motivation to just learn online. Instead, making content about it to explain my journey and progress is so much more fun.
With enough persistence, I might one day proudly say that:
I am just as fluent in Spanish as I am in English and French. I can speak to ANYONE, read and understand EVERYTHING and write ANYTHING comfortably no matter the context. I can STUDY and LEARN anything in the language and I can THINK in it just like a native speaker.
-Me in the distant future
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