Practicing Spanish
As I moved to the fourth
unit on my Platiquemos
Spanish CD,
the repetition seemed to be working. Lying on my back in the
shade of the garden's edge, Spanish words poured through the headphones
and for a moment I thought I was in Central America. A rustling
in the canopy caught my eye, and I peered up through the leaves in
search of what I was positive would be a monkey.
Unfortunately, my monkey
turned out to be a Blue Jay, and my Spanish immersion was sporadic and
one-sided. I had no one on whom to test my budding skills.
Big city
folks may have no trouble finding a native Spanish speaker, but if you
live in the boondocks, your best bet is to hit the local Mexican
restaurant and chat up the waiter. While Mark added a 30% tip on
our bill, the server answered my nosy
questions --- he was from Guadalajera (I think); yes, that's in Mexico;
it's in the south, not the north; no, it's not near Yucatan, it's on the whole other
side; he'd been in the U.S. for 10 years.
I was thrilled to find
that after weeks of drilling on pronunciation, I understood a full half of what my new friend was
saying. The waiter was unbelievably patient too, repeating
himself and listening to my stumbling sentences (in which I
promptly forgot basic distinctions like ser versus estar and por versus para.) I'll definitely be
going back to bend his ear again after I finish another unit or two.
In the past, I've
practiced Spanish with other learners, but I'm beginning to think that
--- at least at first --- that approach is a waste of time.
Pronunciation errors can multiply unchecked in conversational practice
between non-native speakers, and my current goal is to work hard on my
pronunciation and listening comprehension. When I go back to talk
to the waiter, though, I clearly need to come up with a list of
not-too-nosy questions that can be answered with basic
vocabulary. Any ideas?
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