Spanish Teacher

Not sure why yesterday I was thinking of my Spanish teacher from the University of Houston. At U of H, there were two groups of Spanish classes- one for those that spoke it in the home and one for those who didn’t.  I was in the one for those who didn’t, of course. One afternoon, the teacher pulled me aside and asked me if I grew up speaking Spanish in the home. I said no, I didn’t.  “Oh ok,” she replied.  “It’s just that your accent is so natural.”  I told her that all four of my grandparents were from Greece, and that’s why I could do an accent.  She said “oh ok well just making sure you’re in the right class.”  

This teacher was from Argentina, and she didn’t know what a chimichanga was. Some people in the class explained it to her and she had a look of disgust on her face. “This doesn’t sound too good, this chimichanga.” She said. It made me kind of wonder if “chimichanga” meant some kind of nasty slang in Argentina.

This was about 12-13 years ago. I had a total of four and a half years of Spanish lessons, and the most frustrating thing in the world is to be listening to a Spanish tv or radio station and literally know all the words, but not be able to string them together to know what they’re talking about. 

The best time of life to learn a second language is when you are three years old. When my daughter was three, I sat her down in front of Spanish Sesame Street for this reason, but couldn’t get her interested. I started learning Greek at age 7 and Spanish at age 15. The best way to learn a second language if you’re over the age of three is to go visit a country where it’s the main language spoken, not in a traditional classroom. . This is called instant immersion.  Maybe I’ll try it next time I’m in El Paso.