Ask yourself 1 question, "How do I learn a language?"
The answer is simple; you use it! The secret to learning a language is making that commitment to set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day to focus on learning something new. The first step is to get rid of that "can't do" attitude that has stopped you from trying before. You can learn Spanish. After all, millions of babies learn it everyday.
More than 400 million people speak Spanish in 21 countries around the world. That's a lot of people with a lot of stories. Wouldn't you like to be able to talk to some of them?
If you live here in the United States, learning Spanish can be an investment, too. Job opportunities open everyday for bilingual translators and interpreters. An interpreter in the state of Texas can earn as much as $49,000 per year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Now, you may be asking yourself, "Okay, all those facts seem to check out, but why should I listen to this guy? What credentials does he have?" Well, that is a good question. Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm Jon, and no, I am not fluent in Spanish. I am certainly not a native speaker. However, I have been told many times by native speakers that I speak Spanish better than their children. I did not start out learning Spanish in a classroom setting. I actually had been interested in Spanish since I was around 6 years old. It always fascinated me that there were people who spoke words that I could not understand, and being the curious soul that I am, I bought my first Spanish dictionary. I would learn a few words here and there, but I never really learned anything that allowed me to understand.
In the 8th grade, my school offered an after school Spanish class. The teacher was Panamanian. I signed up and attended the first 3 classes before it was decided for me that an after school class was just not going to work out. Then, in 2004, I started work at my first job at McDonald's, which is a little ironic because I am writing this blog post from inside a McDonald's. This is where my Spanish made leaps and bounds. I worked with a crew that spoke primarily Spanish. At the same time, I had just started taking Spanish 1 in High School. I worked in the kitchen with Yesenia, Jacqueline, Maria, and Ricardo. Management did not speak any Spanish, either. Yesenia knew a little English, and I knew a little Spanish. Yesenia was Guatamalan, Jacqueline and Ricardo were Mexican, and Maria was Hondurian. So, Yesenia and I started working together and pretty much managed the kitchen because she and I were the only ones who could read the orders on the screen. We would have to call out the orders in Spanish so that Jacqueline or Ricardo could make the correct sandwich. Yesenia and I would talk about how to say things in English or Spanish or what something meant. I believe that this experience working with native speakers while learning the language is what ultimately helped me to retain the language. I graduated in 2005 and moved on to an art college where I graduated with a BGA in Commercial Illustration.
I hardly used any Spanish again until almost 7 years later. In 2011, I applied to Middle Tennessee State University for a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Languages with a concentration in Spanish and a focus on Teacher Licensure. My ultimate goal is to teach as a professor in a University. Since I had never taken a course in Spanish at university level, the school allowed me to take a placement exam. I took the test and was given credit for 4 lower division courses pending I passed my first class in the 3000 level, which just happened to be Advanced Spanish Grammar. I caught on quickly, and I have been slowly pursuing my degree ever since. It will take me a while to complete it because I am taking only 1 to 2 classes per semester, and I also have 2 minors, one in secondary education and the other in German. So, I have a lot of classes to take.
I have been volunteering my time since July 2016 at the Nashville Adult Literacy Council. Because of my background with languages, I primarily spend my time with ELL students. I occasionally get a hispanic student, but a large number of my students have been Chinese. That being said, I have been told that I have a knack for explaining things in a easy way to understand. It may sound tedious and boring in the beginning, but I promise you that if you can stay with me through the first 5 or so lessons, you will be much better equipped to learn new Spanish from context than you would had you spent thousands of dollars at a university, especially if you are a fairly quick learner. So, let's make deal, if you will commit to setting aside 15-20 minutes of your time each day to learn a little Spanish, I will commit to updating this blog with a new lesson every 2 to 3 days with homework assignments designed to help you continue your learning even on days I do not post something new for you to learn.
To give you a little preview of what is to come, the first 5 lessons are:
1) Sounds of Spanish
2) The alphabet
3) Rules of Accents
4) Articles and Spanish Plurals
5) Numbers
The Sounds of Spanish lesson will probably be divided up into 3 posts. So, look for the first part of that lesson in the next couple of days. I will also be recommending reading material and study materials side by side with the lessons.
Y'all have a good day now!
Jon Slayton
No comments:
Post a Comment