Hello, my lovelies!
Long time, no see. I know, I know. I was a busy teacher and never seemed to find the time to write. Whoops. Let's move on, shall we?
The other night my husband asked me to call a student's parents because they speak Spanish and my husband does not. It was not the first time I had done that for him. Every time I ask him to give me a summary of what I need to say, some specifics like current grade, and I take a moment to write down words that I tend to forget (I'll be darned if I ever remember the way to say "to fail a test" that is common outside of Spain).
That day, like always, I made a few mistakes. It's my second language and, unfortunately, I do not get to use it very often now that I no longer teach Spanish everyday. I can't seem to get out of the habit of using the present progressive all the time (darn you, English!) but hey! I used the subjunctive correctly!
I was explaining to my husband that there is one key thing to do when speaking a second language: don't let the mistakes trip you up! I recognize a lot of the mistakes I make when speaking Spanish. My gut says that I should immediately correct my mistake but, honestly, that's a waste of time. As one of my professors pointed out, the purpose is to communicate. If the other party understands your message, you have succeeded. There is no point in trying to be perfect.
When I taught Spanish, my students were afraid to actually speak the language because they didn't want to mess-up. They wanted to put off speaking until they were certain that they would say everything perfectly. You know what happened? They never really spoke Spanish. My students who could best use the language were the ones who threw caution to the wind and made a million mistakes. I only stopped them when I could not understand them.
I need to remember that, when learning something new, it's ok to be a little reckless and make mistakes. The best way to learn is to make errors . . . lots of them! So kiddos, go and spread your wings! Try something new! It's the only way to see what you are capable of.
-Clare G. S.
