Spanish-0 Me-1

Finally I feel ready to write about my struggle with Spanish. I have to point out that I didn't know anything before, except these basic things (hola, como te llamas, me gusta etc.) that every foreigner knows. I was familiar with the pronunciations though. Thanks to this course for beginners that I attended for a few months (5 or 6 years ago!!! :D) As you can imagine, I forgot all of the things that I had learnt and I had to start over. I mean, I've always had interest in learning Spanish. (Interest, check!)

It's been a long journey with so many up and downs. And now I hear people say "Hey, you're doing good!". So I felt the urge to tell my experience. If there's anyone out there thinking of doing an EVS but having doubts just because of the language barrier, stop worrying about it.

Well, what I've learned? It's definitely not something you can have or accomplish overnight! Because I was PLANNING to start speaking Spanish in a few months haha. Plan realistically, my friends. I remember that I just listened to people for the first 3 months maybe. And then it was time to imitate those I had been hearing all the time. I don't mean just the pronunciations. When they're in this specific A situation, they say this. When they're having B, they use this word. I think this is the easiest way to learn a language. Better than studying grammar which is exhausting because of the 200 different types of past tense they have!!! So, I prefer speaking in present tense no matter what I'm talking about. The past is behind. Carpe diem baby! haha

We have Spanish classes every Friday at the shop except this online course for EVS volunteers. I can't deny that it helps a lot. But it's not enough. That's for sure. Especially for me, because I need to study grammar, vocabulary alone won't help. If you don't know anything about the conjugations, it's impossible to be able to speak.

Also I've been studying with a Spanish friend, Christian who is learning Turkish. We're kind of exchanging languages. That's one of the least boring ways to learn a language. Highly recommended!

And a small self-criticism: I don't study enough:/ I know that I can do better. 

I used to study on this online course but it started to get boring, well it always was. It includes basically grammar, vocabulary and listening but also there's a part where you can test your pronunciation and it gives you a percentage depending how accurate you pronounce. And it gives %90 maximum even to a native speaker haha for real