Thoughts on learning a new language

I know I haven't written about this in a while, but obviously, as I am still in Chile, I have been continuing my quest to learn Spanish. I thought I would share some of my thoughts on what the process has been like for me.

Learning another language is definitely a process, it's a never ending process full of highs and lows, some proud moments, and definitely even more embarrassing moments. Every day you learn something new, and you never stop learning; there will always be a word out there that you didn't know the meaning of before. I would without a doubt argue that the best way to learn another language is to go to another country and learn it pretty much out of desperation, because you have to if you have any desire to communicate with people from the chosen country. This is not to say that it isn't possible to learn a language by studying it in a classroom setting (although that method of learning has never worked for me personally, but I am, without a doubt, a kinesthetic learner all the way), but there is so much you can't learn just by studying. Languages are complex, unique, full of idiosyncrasies, accents, and all of this varies so much by individual countries, individual regions, groups of people, social class, personal histories, etc. You just can't pick up on all that by learning from one person (native speaker or not), or one book. In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of a language to try to emulate as a learner is the flow. Every language has it's own unique flow, differences in sentence structure, intonation, and so on. And the best way to capture and imitate the flow of a language is to listen. A lot. For me, speaking spanish with the Chilean flow came relatively easy for me early on, because I had been exposed to it throughout my life. It was when I was hanging out with other spanish language learners along with native speakers when I realized how important this flow is. I have met people who speak really good spanish. Textbook spanish. They are always grammatically correct, have a decent vocabulary (these are the things I struggle with the most). But if they are lacking in the ability to flow, native speakers struggle to understand them. And it does not feel good when you are trying to communicate and the native speaker doesn't understand your pronunciation. You can't speak Spanish like you are speaking English. Or vice versa. Just like you can't speak Portuguese as if you are speaking Chinese. Each language has it's unique characteristics. And of course, it is really difficult (though not impossible) to master a second, third, fourth language the way we have mastered our mother tongues. But, I think it's really important to try and pay attention to pronunciation, to intonation, to flow. If you can speak a language comfortably, without nervousness, and with some consciousness of the language's unique flow, that's when people start complementing you on how well you speak. Even if you make mistakes all the time.

And that's kind of the level I'm at right now. I always say that I can trick people into thinking I speak spanish better than I do. The truth is, I still make mistakes all the time, constantly. I mix up tenses, the feminine and masculine, por, para, ser, estar, and many other things. And there are so many times when I just can't find the word I'm looking for in my brain, which can be really frustrating. But one of the biggest steps I have made in making progress was letting go of the fear to speak. I used to get all tense and worry about making mistakes. But now I realize that mistakes are essential in the learning process (life lesson?). So I just let the words flow out of my mouth, trying not to think to much about it. I think that's why almost everyone would say they feel like they speak another language better after a few drinks. Obviously, this is because alcohol helps you to relax. The more I allow myself to relax, the more I feel myself just letting the flow happen, the more confident I feel, and then that's when people begin to compliment me on how well I speak. And let me tell you, it feels great to hear that. I don't think it will ever get old to hear such compliments.