second language – Fake Flamenco

7 Tips to Keep Your Second Language Alive

No extra money for language classes or international travel? (My hand is raised) Let’s talk. So we’ve spent a year, five years or ten+ learning a second language. How can we avoid our vocabulary falling away like so many shooting stars? See my top seven ideas for low budget refreshers. The ideas go from free-of-charge […]

Spanish

The Great Bilingual Experiment

An imperfect and rewarding journey of creating a bilingual family as a non-native Spanish speaker.

Spanish, Study Abroad

Conquered by Food

When I traveled to Spain, I thought the food might resemble Mexican cuisine with its spiciness. However, black pepper was the most piquant seasoning in the Fundación Ortega y Gasset kitchen in Toledo. I was happy not to burn my tongue, but my Mexican roommate imported a suitcase full of hot sauce to survive the […]

Spanish, Study Abroad

Joke’s On Me

Learning to converse in another language keeps me humble. Beginning with English, as a child I made up funny words. I’d call the small blue round Midwestern fruit, bluebodies. My father’s bluebody pancakes were and still are a family favorite. In first year high school Spanish, I wanted to say, “I’m embarrassed” Tengo vergüenza. Instead […]

Spanish

Language is Power

The human mind seems so incredible to me. When we are infants, people talk to us, and by the time we are six months old, we understand most of what they say. If one parent speaks German, the other Portuguese, and grandma speaks English, our brains take in all three languages without a problem, categorize […]