Challenges and Resources

¡Hola mi gente!

Today I woke up with a cold (estoy enfermo) and decided to get blogging.

I wanted to start by sharing with you the first three challenges I plan to tackle on my mission.

1. Immersion

I have to say, THE hardest part of this mission is going to be immersion. I am immersed in the English language. There’s no way around it. I’m at work for eight hours a day speaking English and all of my Spanish speaking friends have to speak English at work because we work with the public. So this will be my first obstacle.

2. Shyness

Getting over my insecurity of speaking is going to be another challenge. I sometimes find myself afraid to speak because I’m afraid I will say the wrong words or people will laugh at my bad accent. I really have to get my confidence level up to achieve my goal.

3. Lack of vocabulary

What holds be back the most from speaking is my long pauses to think about how to conjugate a verb or how to translate something from English to Spanish. I am definitely going to have to study vocabulary and use it in the real world.

Now that I’ve mentioned my first three challenges, let me tell you about some really cool resources I have found so far.

1. Fluent in 3 Months

An Irish polyglot named Benny Lewis has an amazing website to check out called www.fluentin3months.com. This guy speaks over ten languages and pushes himself to learn a new language in three months (often while in the wrong country). His website has amazing resources such as a forum where you can reach out to others learning a language to set up an exchange. I currently have a post up for a native Spanish speaker that would like to help me in exchange for English lessons. Many of these blog posts will be inspired by Benny’s work.

2. LingQ and Notes in Spanish

LingQ and Notes in Spanish are websites where you can listen to free podcasts in Spanish and keep track of new vocabulary words you learn while listening and reading.

3. Easy Language Exchange and Conversation Exchange

Easy Language Exchangeand Conversation Exchange are websites where you can meet other people learning the language you speak to set up an exchange. I created an account yesterday and I already have a few friends willing to speak Spanish with me in exchange for English lessons.

4. Facebook and Craigslist

Don’t forget about good ol’ Facebook and Craigslist. I already have a few friends on Facebook willing to help me out. I also have an ad up on Craigslist for a language exchange. The nearby university also has a language exchange Facebook page. I posted an ad there as well.

5. Skype

Remember, you don’t have to meet up with people to speak the language (although I prefer to do so). Download Skype and start meeting some friends using the above resources.

There are many other resources, such as Meetup.com and Verbling.com, that I haven’t even explored yet. So hope is out there! I plan on meeting some friends and tackling my first three challenges as soon as possible. I will have to create an “immersion bubble” here in the U.S. using these and other tools. I plan on committing as much time as possible throughout my day in this “bubble”.

¡Bienvenidos a mi blog!

Hola. Bienvenidos a mi blog. Me llamo Joshua Cummings. Tengo 24 años. Are you impressed with my Spanish yet? I didn’t think so. Living in San Diego, CA (just minutes away from Mexico), most people aren’t. Spanish is somewhat engrained in our culture considering it is spoken by over 12 million people in the state of California alone. Not to mention that the land was taken from Mexico, but I’m going to try my best not to get into any politics in this blog.

So, why am I pushing myself to speak conversational Spanish in 6 months you might ask? Well, there are two reasons.

1. A strong desire is nothing without a specific attainable goal.

I have always wanted to learn Spanish, but I have always had an “I’ll get around to it” attitude. I would hear close friends and family members speak it and and dream that one day I would speak it too. I would go to the market and hear this beautiful language and really only understand one or two words out of a conversation. I’m tired of dreaming and I want to start living. I am creating this blog to show you that my “desire” to learn Spanish is now a “need” to learn Spanish, and that without this need, my dream will never come true.

2. If 12 million people speak it my home state, why don’t I?

There is not a day that goes by where I don’t hear Spanish used in conversation. In fact, my fiancée’s (or “mi prometida” as I have recently learned to call her) entire family speaks it! If I can’t truly communicate with my own family in their native language, I cannot fully understand their rich culture. In this country we are taught that English is the best way and English is the right way, but I choose not to believe this. English is ONE way, like a one way street that prevents us from exploring the thousands of incredibly interesting crossroads and boulevards in life. I dream of having a bilingual family so that my children don’t get stuck with this “one way street” mentality. Besides, how many of us get out into the real world and say, “Man, I wish I was bilingual like so and so.”

In summary, this blog will explore the social aspects of learning to speak conversational Spanish in the United States (which is the opposite of what most people do when moving to this country). I will share my stories, my struggles and successes, as well as any and all best practices I learn along the way.