rff wrap-up: second languages

It's become a little bit of an adventure to me now, to seek out friends each month to discover new things about through the random fact friday/#lifeaboutlife initiative. In wrapping up the month of May, there are two friends I'm sharing about; one with a pretty funny learning-the-language story and one with some great tips and advice on trying to learn a second language from her own experiences. 

Also, in the course of the last two months of being inspired to better my French speaking skills, I had the idea to kill two birds with one stone and practice my French while also practicing my calligraphy(!) I'm really enjoying this new hobby, and loved my classes with Deb Warnat Designs, here in Birmingham.

French lessons + calligraphy practice = creative time management success! 

language friend #1: melissa

Melissa works for the WMU Foundation, which is housed in our WMU building. She's relatively new and is a total joy to get to know! After reading my post about the failed ATM French transaction, she almost immediately emailed this little anecdote over to contribute to the conversation, for me to share here:  

"During my recent class for conversational Spanish, our in-class assignment was to ask our teacher a question in Spanish and he would reply in Spanish. I can't remember what my question was now, nor what it was supposed to be – I guess I blacked out – but, what it was supposed to be didn't come out of my mouth. Instead, something to the effect of, "Will you go out with me?" did come out . . . out loud, and in front of the whole class. 

To make matters worse, I didn't know what I had said and apparently he was very caught off guard, so he looked at me funny, so obviously I had to repeat it, only LOUDER this time, in case he didn’t hear me.

Tension filled the room as a classmate figured out what I was trying to say. Through squelched giggles, she explained to me what I had actually said, and I was immediately mortified . . . the married teacher looked embarrassed, but laughed. The whole class learned a new sentence that day and never let me live it down."

language friend #2: brittany

Brittany and I work together at a part-time job I have at Barnes & Noble Cafe. It can be kinda hard, constantly-on-your-feet work at times, but we all have a great time being there, serving coffee and hanging out. I've worked with her for a few months now, but had no idea she had done (and still does practice), such a deep study in Spanish until last month when diving into the topic of second languages on the blog. It was really fun to talk with her about it, and gain some new tips, (below)!

Brittany in Spain, during her second term there

"While attending Auburn University, I studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain for a summer semester (just a month) in 2009 and 2010. I went because I love to travel, and too, because I wanted to become fluent in Spanish (still working on that . . . ). I loved the experience, but for anyone studying abroad to learn a language, I would recommend living with a host family instead of in dorms like I did (because we ended up speaking English in the dorms so my Spanish didn't improve as much as it could have).

Some other tips I've found helpful are: language apps like Duolingo and Memrise, watching TV shows and movies in Spanish (especially ones that you already know pretty well in English), and reading books in Spanish (I'm currently reading ' Divergente')." 

in summary

Well first--I am for sure about to start watching Runaway Bride in French! I know just about every line of it, and it never occurred to me until Brittany said that, to practice a second language that way! Super fun. 

On a recent trip--sitting in the backseat with co-worker/BFF Courtney, each taking turns and/or simultaneously quoting this movie! (who says those automobile DVD players are just for the kiddos???) ;) 

Second--I truly laughed out loud when I first read that email from Melissa . . . I can easily imagine myself making the same faux pas. And the fact that it came to my inbox on a Monday . . . a very tired Monday morning . . . made it a fun and unexpected little happy to help get the day started; and too, it always makes me happy to find friends who can also laugh at themselves!

And if you have anything you'd like to share, helpful or funny--please do! Either by commenting below or by using the contact email here on the site. 

thanks for being here!