A Few Reflections

I thought I would record a few of my thoughts here; some ponderings on cultural similarities and differences and an update on my language learning. Here is the disclaimer...none of my comments are meant as judgements or complaints. I am very much living every day in harmony and peace. These are simple reflections and some opinion...MY opinion which in the grand scheme of things is microscopic. HA!

I am beginning my fourth week of Spanish at Academia Tica. I have had 3 different teachers. I enjoy this because each teacher has a different style and way they relate to their students. My first week I took one-to-one class with Andrea. Andrea and I share a love for food, cooking, Japan, and chilling aka sleep and "staying in" to relax. She taught me how to conjugate verbs which is much needed and appreciated to put the language together coherently. Whether I can ACTUALLY do that is another story. Andrea goes out of her way to tailor my learning and experience for what works for me. I love how she can kindly remind me to speak ONLY Spanish and is really patient waiting while I put together the words. I super appreciate her efforts!

My second week, my classmate, Mara, joined me. Mara is Dutch and Costa Rican; born in the very south of Costa Rica then moved to Holland when she was a toddler, she has decided to come experience Costa Rica at her grandparents' farm. Mara has Costa Rica in her blood. She is more Tica then Dutch even though most her life has been in Holland. Our teacher, Santiago, is named after the saint of the same name, also a town in Spain and he feels a strong connection to that place. Santiago is an amazing storyteller and jokester around 60 years old. He has learned sign language, born and studied in Nicaragua, then Mexico, and Spain, most on scholarship. He is an experienced and passionate barista. 

Week 3, I was assigned to Adriana's class. Adriana is a little younger than me. She loves her little dog and seems to be a quiet person. Adriana speaks less fluent English than my other two teachers, which was excellent for my learning. She loves structure and getting right to the job of teaching the material. Some might consider this stand-offish or strict, but I greatly appreciate her style. I had two additional classmates join up. These kids came from Holland and Germany. All the kids, including Mara, are multi-lingual. This is how it is for people all over the world. It is necessary to learn other languages to get through life, at the least English, the universal language.

This week I have lost my classmates and go back to Andrea for one-to-one lessons because I am "higher" than the other classes BUT that isn't saying much. I am still in A-1 and my progress is slow. This has me reflecting on why the USA doesn't make language learning more of a priority for our students. Learning another language is a valuable skill. Because the rest of the world doesn't have English, the universal language, as its primary language, they must learn it. In the USA, we don't have that necessity, and we TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. We take ALOT for granted in the USA.

I have often heard the sentiment in the USA that "if you don't want to speak English then leave; go back to your country." In my opinion, this is a prideful, short-sighted, uncompassionate, and dangerous way to think. This lack of insight (my own responsibility) has the consequence of making my journey now, into a new language, a language that will BENEFIT me, much more difficult, because my mid-40's brain doesn't catch on easily to building the pathways necessary. One of my classmates, Nora, from Holland, knows English, French, some Spanish, and a little German. She has been learning Spanish for SIX WEEKS and already passed where I stand after learning for six months. Wow! Her brain has a processing pathway for learning language. Nora also hopes to pursue Italian. It has me thinking...what IF each state had a different language? 

To end this post, I am going to share an interesting experience I had. In practicing during class, Mara and I were assigned to ask each other questions from a practice gameboard in Spanish. Te gusta los gatos o los perros? Cual es tu comida favorita? Tienes algun miedo? Que cambiarias del mundo? Ect...

The last question...What would you change about the world...got me thinking. I am not good at simple answers when it comes to these kinds of questions because I analyze, maybe too much, but sometimes it has its positives. 

Even a simpler question, such as what is my favorite food, is complex for me. I often feel pressure to answer in the moment which leaves me short on getting down to the "real" answer. For example, Alejandro (Alex) asked me very early in my study with him about my favorite foods. My gut wanted to say shrimp but that didn't cover it in my mind, so I said something about ethnic food. Later I thought he meant USA foods because he and our friend, Fabri, were talking about their favorite Tico foods. Well, my favorite USA foods are BBQ and home-style cooking we call "comfort food"...so if I visited a restaurant or recommended food to a newcomer I'd say "go to Golden Corral" to get the whole USA food experience since all the types are offered there in copious amounts. It is interesting though that I could have reverted to my gut because I have a post about favorite foods on another blog, I wrote years ago, and shrimp is the top answer. Although I think scallops has exceeded shrimp in recent times. At least I'm consistent, eh? Okay. Moving on.

Back to the question about the world...I didn't really have an answer. I can't even remember what I said at first. Nothing of substance really then told Mara changing the world is something I can't control. Mara, bless her young heart, said it didn't matter, just keep it simple. I think I wished for people to be more kind everywhere. This doesn't really get to the depth of what I meant though. This left an impression on me, and I know because the next day in my early morning twilight sleep, the answer came to me. The way I change the world is to change myself. Be growth mindset oriented. Be present. Make my own peace. Maybe someone will have a better day in my presence and isn't that change?