Out-of-Body Spanish

I had 2 revelations last night during our Spanish conversation group.

Revelation #1 – Detach

We are all at different levels of experience with learning the Spanish language, and we all learn in different ways. Some of us know very little Spanish, others are intermediate through many years of study and practice, and still others are native Spanish speakers. We will never be able to manufacture a scenario whereby we all learn in the same way AND all have the same Spanish language proficiency. So, don’t worry about it! No te preocupes.

Don’t compare yourself with anyone else, and don’t worry about where you are right now in your language learning. Just enjoy the group, and learn what you will.

Y’all probably already knew that, and if you were not so kind you might be thinking something like “Thank you Captain Obvious.” Okay then, let’s move on to the next revelation.

Revelation #2 – That Out-of-Body Feeling

Last night I almost felt like I was having an out-of-body experience (notice I said “almost”). As I sat there listening to the conversation in Spanish, I understood most of what was being said, and even though I was participating, I felt more like an observer of the whole scene while thinking, “Is this really me?” and, “Is this really happening?” Then I said to myself, “Yes this is me, yes this is really happening, yes I am enjoying it, and yes I am going to stay right here in this flow.”

Scary, eh?

In all seriousness – and I will say this in the first person so that I don’t come across as speaking to (or for) anyone else – it is wise to accept what the Universe gives me, and equally wise to position myself in the slipstream of the Universe while yielding to where the Universe wants to take me.

(Universe with a capital “U” is God as I know God, but I use the term Universe out of respect for my friends and readers who may not share my perspective).

I am always amazed at each of the serendipitous moments in life (or maybe the serendipity in all of life) made manifest in the smallest chance, amazed at how a tiny chance can become reality and impact my life (1) in that moment only, or (2) for the rest of my life. And several of those serendipitous moments conspired together to spawn our group Sólo en Español.

So anyway, I don’t quite know what to make of this little “grupo” we got going on Tuesday nights, but I’m having fun with it and going with the flow.

We had 3 native Spanish speakers there last night, and there were 4 of us learners. That’s at least twice as many people as we had last week! We are growing at an incredible rate! Who knows, at the rate we are growing we could start a New World Order, and a benevolent one at that!

Un Hablante de Español

Chris is a full-time professional who has been studying Spanish in his spare time for less than 6 months. He borrows Spanish language learning tapes from the public library, and last week when he came to Spanish conversation class for the first time he was a tad be intimidated by our “Spanish only policy,” but that did not discourage him from returning to the group this week.

Not only that, he is an OLDER man – my God, I think he may even be in his 50’s! Isn’t he too old to learn a new language? Shouldn’t someone be putting him out to pasture soon?

But miracle of miracles (or maybe it is the ginkgo biloba), he is learning Spanish … and quickly. To illustrate the point, I would like to share with you some of the things we learned about Chris last night, the things he told us speaking only in Spanish.

Chris has been married for 27 years to his lovely wife, and his wife has been a Special Education Teacher for over 30 years. They have one son and one daughter … Chris told us where the kids live, how old they are, and what they do for a living. We also know what Chris does for a living.

Chris told us about his family that lives in Australia, shared with us that his mother passed away last October, and that his father also seems to be nearing the end of a long life. We know that Chris is the oldest of 5 children, and we know the names and birth order of all Chris’ siblings.

Chris is admittedly less artistic than his immediate family, especially less than his wife who is making plans for a second career in Interior Design.

Chris likes to cook, but he is so busy that he has little time for cooking. Part of the problem (or so he claims) is that he spends so much time perfecting his squash game. But when questioned (in Spanish) about the lack of time he claims to have for cooking at home, he also admitted to having an affinity for eating out at fine restaurants.

There’s more that I could share, but in order to protect the innocent, I’ll not mention everything we learned about Chris last night during our linguistic adventure.

One hour group … busy people … novice language learners … some “older” folks … all in Spanish.

Mi nombre es Keith y yo también soy un hablante de español.

Spanish Escapades

You can turn anything that happens to you into a positive.

I became unemployed in January, and it is my daily intention to feel blessed during this season of my life. Fortunately, my wife is gainfully employed (which is a blessing), otherwise it may be harder to feel blessed during this period of unemployment … and I expect to receive an unemployment check sometime soon (which would be another blessing), otherwise I might have to work harder at feeling blessed during this time. (That last sentence was probably a run-on sentence, but I actually like to throw those in there now and then … the Apostle Paul is credited with some serious run-on sentences in the New Testament, one of his statements in Greek might translate to multiple paragraphs in English).

Regardless of what challenge you may be experiencing at this very moment, you can view it as a positive, you can find a way to believe that it is the best thing that could have happened to you. Turn that bitter lemon into sweet lemonade.

I feel particularly blessed at this time to have opportunities to learn Spanish that I would not now have with my prior work schedule. In fact, I am filling my calendar up with as many Spanish learning opportunities that I can.

On Tuesday night starting at 6:30 PM, I participate in a Spanish conversation club that is entirely in Spanish. Sólo en español. We say things like, “I go to store Saturday, last, buy apples, I drive my car, store …” The Spanish is not too impressive, but hey – it’s a start.

Thursdays from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, I am an English tutor to Spanish immigrants. Since my two students (soon to be three) actually speak less English than I speak Spanish, this is a great opportunity to work on developing my Spanish conversational skills. And I have to do a lot of improvising in order to communicate. For example, today my students asked me what I do for work. Hmmm, I didn’t know how to explain in Spanish how I suddenly became unemployed … so I thought for a moment, and then said in Spanish, “One day I was an employee, but the next day I was not an employee … now I am looking for work.” They understood, and in fact replied saying that several of their Latino friends are also looking for work.

On Fridays I meet with Camilo from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM, he is from Columbia and he tutors me in Spanish. How I met Camilo is a great story, and I’m happy to tell you about it. My wife and I are connected to “Potluck around the Planet,” which is a monthly meal organized by our friend Valerie that brings together international students. One day Valerie sent an email out to everyone saying that a new student from Columbia needs a bed and various other household items. Well it just so happens that I had for sale on eBay at that very moment a futon bed that we were selling to make room for an office in our second bedroom. So I emailed Valerie and asked her to ask the new student from Columbia if he would be willing to trade Spanish lessons for a bed. Bingo! Camilo is a very bright guy, he just began his PhD program, and he is an excellent tutor. For what it cost for a good language tutor, he probably has already paid for the bed, but we have become friends and he is happy to continue helping me.

Saturdays I meet with Jorge from 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM, and how I met Jorge is another great story. I had been using the Rosetta Stone program, but I felt I needed a tutor to get to the next level in Spanish. However, when you are not working, it is wise to watch your spending … and language tutors can be expensive. So, I posted an ad on Craigslist.com saying something like, “I will teach you English if you will teach me Spanish.” Jorge saw my ad and replied. Jorge and his wife are from Mexico, and for the last 3 years his wife has been teaching in the “Spanish Immersion” program at one of the elementary schools in Utah. Jorge wanted to improve his English, so we meet on Saturdays so that he has the opportunity to speak and listen to a native English speaker … and Jorge is also a very bright guy, very knowledgeable about the Spanish language, and he is an excellent tutor to me. As an added benefit, me and my wife have become good friends with Jorge and his wife, we meet whenever we can to enjoy a meal together, and I have also played squash a few times with Jorge – and a skiing/snowboarding adventure is next!

Occasionally I will go to a Spanish Mass on Sundays, and at other times during the week I am working through Rosetta Stone, studying verbs, and doing whatever I can to keep moving in the direction of fluency in Spanish. Language learning is a great way to keep the mind active as you grow older, I highly recommend it.

So these are some of my Spanish Escapades, please let me know if you can think of anything else I might try.

One last thing … it seems that I am busier than I have ever been in spite of the fact that I am unemployed, I am not sure how that happens. And at this very moment I am blogging way past my bedtime, so I must say “hasta luego” and “Dios te bendiga.”

Sólo en Español

Tonight we had our first Spanish conversation class at Mestizo Coffeehouse, a funky little multicultural gathering place just west of downtown Salt Lake City. At http://www.mestizocoffeehouse.com/ you’ll catch a glimpse of the vision for Mestizo, including the following statement:

Mestizo was created by artists, activists, community builders and private investors for the purpose of bringing a community center and gathering space to Salt Lake’s Westside. In addition to bringing great food and quality free-trade organic coffee and teas, we share space with our sister organization Mestizo Institute of Culture and Art (MICA), a non-profit arts and cultural institution. Together, we invest in community and youth. We believe in people! We believe in youth! We believe in community!

The conversation tonight was fabulous! Our teacher (“maestro”) is Carlos, a native of Guatemala who has been in the U.S. (I think) about 20 years. His wife and daughter are with him here in Salt Lake City, however his son’s family (including the grandchildren) still lives in Guatemala. I met Carlos through work, and after I told him that I was learning Spanish, he voluntarily worked with me every time he saw me to teach me a little more Spanish.

For this weekly meeting, I requested just one thing – force us to rely only on Spanish. Sólo en español. And Carlos is glad to oblige. For one hour he spoke only in Spanish (with the exception of 2-3 short statements to get us unstuck), and he required us to speak only in Spanish. Yes it was difficult, yes it was frustrating, but yes it is exactly what we novitiates need.

How many Latino immigrants show up in the United States every year not knowing a lick of English, and yet figure out a way to learn English and become assimilated in the culture? They are examples of fortitude, perseverance, and hard work to all us Gringos.

Carlos is an excellent teacher … he speaks slowly in simple Spanish, and patiently repeats himself over and over again if necessary. He’ll give you plenty of opportunities to participate, or leave you be if you just want to listen and observe for awhile. Though the focus in this gathering is on listening and speaking, he also brings handouts to help facilitate exercises and learning.

So if you are in Salt Lake City and want to stumble and bumble and fail over and over, and yet get back up over and over again in order to learn Spanish, come meet us at Café Mestizo (631 West N. Temple) at 6:30 PM on Tuesday nights.

Just remember, leave your English at the door because we are sólo en español.

My Buddy

Your origins in Africa,
wise man of many years;
from Europe I descended,
still one wet ‘hind the ears,
‘hind the ears.

We sat out on the porch,
or strolled down to the store;
seems morning, noon, and night,
us two would laugh some more,
laugh some more.

But when life took a turn,
thought I should leave a friend;
not once in two full years,
a letter did I send,
did I send.

At last I came to know,
true friends are hard to find;
I traveled through to see you,
but … only in my mind,
in my mind.

Sadness, grief, anxiety,
one such as you had flown;
my sorrow only overcome,
to think of fun we’d sown,
fun we’d sown.

Your life, a precious gift,
Sir Sammy, yeah! – so funny;
with God forever dwelling,
you’ll always be my buddy,
my buddy.