Learning A New Language - Can You Learn Spanish? There are lots of reasons why someone might want to learn Spanish. With 400 million speakers it is the second most spoken language behind Mandarin. Perhaps you are preparing a vacation or organizing a trip to a Spanish speaking country or perhaps you are thinking about emigrating. It could be that you do not actually need to speak Spanish at all but you just wish to say that you can. Being able to communicate in another language definitely provides you an excellent sense of achievement. For a long time I had actually wanted to learn another language, and for some reason I was always drawn to Spanish. I believe one factor was because what little I knew about Spain at the time in some way appealed to my sense of great living. Of course there is far more to Spain than this, however for me, Spain and the Spanish language held more appeal than German or French did. I had actually desired to learn Spanish for a long time I guess the primary factor why I lastly chose to do something about it was because I was planning a long journey to Central and South America. I was about to pass through as many as 19 various countries where the main nationwide language was Spanish. Given that then Spanish and all things Spanish both in Spain and in Latin America have actually taken me over. If I can speak Spanish with complete confidence I am constantly a little hesitant to say yes, when people ask me. The fact is that even though I can interact in Spanish with relative ease I still do not feel that I know enough. If I ever will, I am not truly sure! There are always brand-new words and phrases to discover for example and obviously these vary from country to country. I think one of the biggest tests for me is being able to sit in front of the TELEVISION with una cerveza (a beer) and watch a Spanish soap opera (una telenovela) or a Spanish motion picture and totally understand everything that is going on. If I can do that in English why shouldn't I be able to do the same in Spanish? Well I have to say I am certainly not there yet however practically! How did I get from not knowing a single word of Spanish (apart from - gracias and amigo), to being able to read a Spanish book, speak to a Spanish-speaking good friend or view a Spanish telenovel? Well the response to that is what I mean to discuss in the coming short articles. I am not going to lie to you and say that the journey was a simple one. The reality is that discovering a brand-new language takes time and requires a lot of patience and commitment. What I truly desire to convey at this point is that anybody can do it if they rally desire to. In the next post I mean to discuss preparation. By that I mean considering what it is you wish to attain and how you intend to go about achieving it. You are not going to learn Spanish over night and I believe it makes good sense to prepare yourself for the difficulties ahead. Discovering a brand-new language must be enjoyable and there is no reason that it should not be as long as you realize your restrictions. By no means do I consider myself to be someone that has a natural flare for languages. When I went to school (all those years ago!) the only subject I failed in was French. For some reason I simply could not get my head around it. Before I started discovering Spanish I understood absolutely nothing of other languages. I started right from the beginning. I think exactly what I'm aiming to say is, is that if I can do it then think me anyone can. For a long time I had actually desired to find out another language, and for some reason I was always drawn to Spanish. Considering that then Spanish and all things Spanish both in Spain and in Latin America have actually literally taken me over. I think one of the most significant tests for me is being able to sit in front of the TV with una cerveza (a beer) and see a Spanish soap opera (una telenovela) or a Spanish film and totally comprehend whatever that is going on. How did I get from not knowing a single word of Spanish (apart from - gracias and amigo), to being able to check out a Spanish book, speak to a Spanish-speaking buddy or see a Spanish soap opera?
