Speaking Spanish
Sep 12, 10:01 PM by Eric Allen
It’s been two years since I studied any Spanish in school, and over 10 since I’ve used it practically outside the country. With such poor qualifications, I was hoping my excellent English skills would get me through our Costa Rica experience. Boy, how wrong was I!
Almost as soon as we hit the ground I had to use Spanish: our taxi driver didn’t speak a word of English. He also had to stop and ask for directions six times despite us giving him a map with our destination clearly marked. At the hostel, I had a similar experience. Luckily enough, my rusty Spanish skills came back to save the day! Throughout the rest of the trip, I generally communicated with natives about money and whatnot strictly in Spanish, often forgetting my cohort spoke and understood none. I guess someone could get by in Costa Rica without it, but speaking very basic Spanish really helped me through.
One of my best experiences in Costa Rica was striking up a conversation with an older lady at a “soda” (snack bar) while waiting for a bus. My buddy and I had about twenty minutes to kill, and we wanted to sit in the shade. This little soda looked appealing, so we went over. I ended up striking up a conversation with the grandmother of the family about her wonderful little kitten (Luna), among other things. Luna was three months old, and apparently wanted to take a trip to the U.S. I told my new friend (the grandmother, not the kitten) it was our last day in Costa Rica, and she implored us to stick around a little longer in the country of “pura vida” (pure life). She even complimented me on my limited Spanish skills.
Given my newfound appreciation for being able to speak the native language, and my discovery that I can at least get around with it, I really want to do a serious Spanish immersion program. I have the grammar and much of the basic stuff down cold, and I’m convinced I could become damn near fluent given enough time immersed in the language. I’ve never been that interested in an immersion program because I was afraid I would be totally incapable of communicating, but I’m confident now I could do it. I just need to find a time in my life plan to fit it in.
