I'm Reduced to the Radio
I really miss the sound of Spanish all around me. It's amazing how much you pick up just getting your ears into it.
One night at the dinner table, Maria, John, my housemate, and Josue, the 10 year old whose house we were sharing, and I were talking about our efforts to learn Spanish. Josue is taking English in school. For some reason, we picked the word "refrigerator" to compare in Enlgish and in Spanish.
We all could say it in Spanish with no problems. Ree FREE herr a dor. Then we started trying to teach Josue how to say it in English.
Ree FRIG er rate or.
He tried several times to get his mouth to say the word in English. Instead of the rolling, rounded of sounds of Spanish, he tried to make the syllables sharp and square as they sound in English. He just couldn't get it. Eventually, he managed to spit out something like
REE FIG E A OR. Very robotic. I never realized how gutteral English is until you heara new learner trying to speak it.
I really don't want to loose this ablitlity to understand a whole new set of words. I've been given the new decoder ring that will help me to understand a big part of the world that used to be totally inaccessible, if I could just figure out how to work the thing.
I need to find a speaking buddy. Somehow Spanish soap operas and the Spanish radio stations don't quite substitute for the patient, concerned, often hilarious dinner time conversations I was having last week. I feel like someone with their ear to a glass pressed up against the wall in order to hear the secret conversation going on in the next room.
On the up side, on these Spanish radio stations I'm finding some really great new music. Now if only I could be really sure the DJ was saying the name of the band, and not advertising something for a music store.
I've got a ways to go.
One night at the dinner table, Maria, John, my housemate, and Josue, the 10 year old whose house we were sharing, and I were talking about our efforts to learn Spanish. Josue is taking English in school. For some reason, we picked the word "refrigerator" to compare in Enlgish and in Spanish.
We all could say it in Spanish with no problems. Ree FREE herr a dor. Then we started trying to teach Josue how to say it in English.
Ree FRIG er rate or.
He tried several times to get his mouth to say the word in English. Instead of the rolling, rounded of sounds of Spanish, he tried to make the syllables sharp and square as they sound in English. He just couldn't get it. Eventually, he managed to spit out something like
REE FIG E A OR. Very robotic. I never realized how gutteral English is until you heara new learner trying to speak it.
I really don't want to loose this ablitlity to understand a whole new set of words. I've been given the new decoder ring that will help me to understand a big part of the world that used to be totally inaccessible, if I could just figure out how to work the thing.
I need to find a speaking buddy. Somehow Spanish soap operas and the Spanish radio stations don't quite substitute for the patient, concerned, often hilarious dinner time conversations I was having last week. I feel like someone with their ear to a glass pressed up against the wall in order to hear the secret conversation going on in the next room.
On the up side, on these Spanish radio stations I'm finding some really great new music. Now if only I could be really sure the DJ was saying the name of the band, and not advertising something for a music store.
I've got a ways to go.
posted by Karen | 9:47 PM
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