Day 203: Adult language learning

Shortly after arriving to Venezuela and sitting down with everyone in the family room at Alex’s house, we could feel the wheels start to slowly turn in our heads.  We realized that until the end of our trip, listening, understanding, thinking, and speaking in Spanish was going to be part of our day-to-day.  Since he has a working English, many times it’s just easier, faster, and less confusing for us to explain things in our (adopted) mother tongue.  But we know that to have an enriching cultural experience, we need to have to refresh and improve our Spanish-speaking skills.  Oftentimes for us, children can be the best teachers because they are learning the language themselves.  They might realize that we speak a little funny but they are more concerned with playing and having fun.  We’re thankful to be around so many kids because the interesting and imaginative conversations never stop and sometimes it’s even difficult for us to get a word in with them.

Prometo que estamos tentando, mas de verdade: cada dia que se passa, nossas cabeças ficam mais confusas. Bryan relembrando o espanhol e eu “hablando” um portunhol do caramba. Nosso amigo Alexis fala um pouco de inglês, então isso muitas vezes nos ajuda. Estar com as crianças é a melhor forma de aprender porque eles são super inocentes e quando não sabemos alguma palavra, nos mostra ou nos explica na linguagem deles, de criança! E criançada é o que não falta aqui, porque são cinco famílias reunidas e num total de uns nove pequeninos na baixa etária menor que 10 anos, isso quando não se tem outros parentes, vizinhos, amiguinhos por perto. Me gusta mucho hablar en español!