Start with Part I: Why I Decided To Learn Spanish.
While in Guatemala, we came across numerous schools where visitors can stay with a local family and take Spanish classes for 4-5 hours a day. These immersion programs are popular with foreigners, allowing people to learn or improve their Spanish. However, with a full-time job and other commitments, taking six months or a year off to go to Guatemala to study Spanish was certainly not an option for me. I had to figure out something else.
Back home, I devised a plan to conquer Spanish. I came up with a rule that each day, I would devote 15 to 45 minutes to Spanish. Consistency and repetition are keys to any language learning process. I started by watching YouTube videos. Today, you can learn pretty much anything on YouTube: from making sushi to tying a necktie. There are numerous channels with engaging teachers explaining complex grammar rules in an easy, digestible manner. Also on YouTube, I found one of the best grammar courses, Pro Spanish. After watching a couple of sample lessons, I bought the remaining lessons through the company’s website. In addition to YouTube, I gradually transitioned to more Spanish-language content on other platforms. I watched daily news on the Telemundo channel and Mexican TV series on Netflix. I also listened to music, audiobooks, and podcasts in Spanish. It got to the point that videos and audio on my devices got interrupted by commercials in Spanish. I also purchased books in Spanish and picked up some free Spanish-language newspapers at local convenience stores, and then translated them line by line with the help of a dictionary (the same way I learned English). I went to concerts of Puerto Rican and Colombian reggaetón artists and frequented local Mexican and Latin American restaurants, neighborhoods, and festivals. I installed a Spanish keyboard on my iPhone to type notes to myself in Spanish. Suddenly, it became clear that you don't need to be at a Spanish school in Guatemala to learn the language. You can organize the immersion program yourself in Chicago if you really want it.
Eight months after returning from Guatemala and getting more serious about learning Spanish, it was time to check on my progress. We flew to Guadalajara for a weekend, where I was going to practice my newly acquired language skills. Guadalajara is a delightful city, and we had a lot of fun there: from eating pozole in the central square to exploring art galleries in nearby Tlaquepaque. Yet, conspicuously absent from the trip were conversations with the locals. I was too shy and embarrassed to speak. The fear of making a mistake was terrifying and paralyzing. Also, to be honest, my Spanish was still pretty much non-existent even after several months of independent studies. At Hospicio Cabañas, the orphanage-turned-museum, I mustered enough courage to ask a docent a few questions about José Clemente Orozco's frescoes, but our back-and-forth was very limited as I was still unable to hold a conversation. My inadequate Spanish also nearly caused us to get on the wrong tour bus to Tequila.
But this visit did show some improvement. At the end of the first day, we took an Uber from the restaurant where we had dinner to our Airbnb. I remember the restaurant fondly because that’s where I tried mezcal for the first time. The drink was smoky, bitter, and strong, and it got me immediately drunk. Getting into the Uber, I was relaxed, my inhibitions were lowered, and the fear of making mistakes was gone. I chatted with the driver about Guadalajara, Mexico in general, and the restaurant we had just dined in. We talked for the entire duration of the ride as if I had spoken Spanish my whole life. All those words and phrases that I had been learning for months finally started to come out of my drunken mouth. I woke up the next morning with a slight hangover, but with the realization of the improvement I had made. The next goal was to learn to speak Spanish without first getting drunk.
After returning home, I continued with my studies. It took me a while to get over my shyness, and what helped me tremendously was downloading the italki app and connecting with professional teachers and community tutors once a week to chat in Spanish for an hour. I also doubled down on the content I consumed by watching travel vlogs and other videos in Spanish. More importantly, we continued to travel to places where Spanish is spoken. Weekend trips to Mexico City, other Mexican cities, and pueblos magicos became a part of our annual travel menu. Long and short trips to Central and South America (El Salvador, Peru, and Colombia) helped me to solidify the materials that I had learned at home and exposed me to new words, expressions, slang, and idioms. On plane rides back home, I would often type on my phone not only the highlights of the visit but also all the new words learned.
My progress is still very gradual, and there are plenty of blunders and gaffes when I speak. In Peru, after spending an exciting but exhausting day at Machu Picchu, I asked a waitress not for la cuenta (a bill) but for la propina (a tip). She just smiled and corrected me, but I beat myself up for days after that. On the bus from Mexico City to Puebla the year before, I awkwardly asked the driver if the newspaper was “libre” (not occupied) instead of “gratis” (free of charge). And many other times, especially when I try to directly translate something from English to Spanish. At the very least, I’ve managed to avoid the most common and embarrassing mistake that foreigners make, and never said: “Estoy caliente” (I am horny) instead of “Tengo calor” (“I am hot” referring to being hot due to the heat).
The benefits of learning Spanish have been tremendous. In places where English is not widely spoken, it simply helps us to get around and enhances the experience. All of a sudden, it's easy and cheaper to travel in Central and South America via public transportation as I can now communicate at bus stations, train depots, and tuk-tuk stands. In Colombia, we were able to avoid an organized bus tour from Medellín to Guatape by going to a bus station, figuring out the correct platform, and buying our mini-bus tickets. We had the pleasure of exploring the colorful Guatape and climbing the famous El Peñol rock at our own pace and lingering in places without being rushed. Knowing the language also opened the door to unexpected new opportunities. The highlight of our trip to El Salvador was overnight camping at the top of the Conchagua volcano, an experience about which I read on a Spanish travel blog before the visit. Also in El Salvador, we hiked waterfalls in the coffee region with a Spanish-speaking guide who told us a lot about the region, El Salvador, and the coffee industry. But the best part of this Spanish-learning journey is the ability to connect with the locals. No matter how many mistakes I make, people are generally excited and supportive of my efforts. Just showing that you're trying usually works its charm. And while we might not have very deep conversations yet, in the end, it certainly widens the net of people we can reach and connect with in our travels. And that’s a huge bonus!
The only downside of learning Spanish is that now it's always my job to talk to people and figure stuff out with Julia taking a backseat. In our travels, she is usually the one who chats and breaks the ice with strangers, while I am more of a reserved type. Not anymore. As my language skills improved, the roles reversed, and it suddenly became my job to ask strangers for directions, haggle at markets, and ask where bathrooms are. But who knows — maybe one day she'll follow suit and learns the language, too, or at the very least the “Donde estan los baños?” phrase.
