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