Learning Spanish

There really is no feeling quite like speaking a new language. This comes from an English speaker - obviously - who has never had the pleasure of conversing in anything but my mother tongue before.

It always seemed impossibly difficult to get talking in a second language... especially after years of language tuition at school ended up going nowhere. After a couple of years not practicing the Spanish I learnt in school, it has effectively all gone out of the window. Which sucks!

But learning a second language can't be all that difficult... after all, almost two billion people around the world can get by in English, with less than 1/5 of these living in English-speaking countries. A large number of these also come from countries lacking in the standard of education that we have in the UK, Australia, Canada and the USA. How does this add up?

Well, it's interesting being in another part of the world and seeing it from another perspective. Basically, it is seen that learning decent English is an essential step on the career ladder for anyone with ambition here (Argentina). Which is fair enough, as a huge percentage of the world's business revolves around English speaking (and American in particular) companies and corporations. The same necessity simply does not exist for English speakers, except those with very specific career goals that involve living, working or trading abroad.

So I'm now learning Spanish. It's coming along at a decent rate, largely as a result of having to speak Spanish to get the best out of life in South America (not to mention getting along with the hottest of the hotties, many of whom don't speak English). This week has seen lessons on the uses of the different past tenses, which is a major variation between Spanish and English. The best lessons, however, have happened outside of the classroom, for instance finding a flat this week, or spending a week in Mar Del Plata, as the only Englishman. Great stuff!

Righteo... that's quite enough of this English speaking for now - time to get back to the homework.

Tengo que practicar mi Espanol, etc, etc.

Hasta luego