Recently I had a client ask in Spanish if I knew any Spanish.
"No," I said (in Spanish and English). "Do you know any English?" I asked in English.
"No!" she said, and laughed. She was a very good sport about trying to tell me about her dog (who thankfully was in for wellness care, so communicating was a little more straightforward.)
I decided that the next time she and her dog were in, I would be able to say "yes."
Which I have since learned is "sí." And I learned how to make an accent mark with the keyboard!
I have no excuse for living in America - the country with the highest percentage of Spanish speakers other than primarily Spanish speaking countries - and having Spanish speaking veterinary classmates and having Spanish speaking preschool Sunday school students and having Spanish speaking clients and living in South Omaha (for Pete's sake!) and not knowing Spanish.
Thanks to my Spanish speaking client, I now have no excuse and motivation.
I found three fun apps - Rocket Languages, Duolingo and Tiny Cards.
So now I have no excuse, motivation and an obsessive compulsive drive.
Kristen (who already had the Duolingo app and who is much more multilingual than you would suspect) and Kelly and Hannah and Russ and Karen and I all decided to learn/brush up on languages with Duolingo together. (Team 120!)
So now I have no excuse, motivation, an obsessive compulsive drive...and encouragement.
This has been very fun so far! After a month's study, I can say, "sí, un poco." (Yes, a little). Next to learn will be upside down exclamation points so when my dear client and I meet again, I can say it emphatically :)
...
Post from one year ago today...
May 22, 2016