Throw It Out the Window

Help !! My tongue is covering my eye tooth and I can't see what I'm saying!

Our weekly memorized dialogs are becoming more complicated and difficult. It takes a lot of work not only to memorize the 20 (or so) lines, but to say it with perfect pronunciation, and then on top of that...with native fluidity (or smoothness).

Whoever actually wrote the dialogs must have been a linguistic genius because they test all of the phonetic and grammar skills we have learned so far and are currently learning in that unit.

There are nights where I sit at my desk and say difficult phrases over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

Phrases like:

-Le escribe a alguien (notice the amount of joint vowels...very difficult to say with fluency)

-Excepto a esta sobrina (these must be linked together and not choppy)

-Si, y es el dia de su (did I mention that every vowel has a different sound in Spanish?)

-Ahi, doblo a la derecha y

The thing that is frustrating with all of this is that when I concentrate on saying the right word in the correct grammatical form...correct pronunciation tends to go out the window, and I revert back to my ingrained English vowel and consonant sounds. It doesn't stop there...when I focus on the correct pronunciation...fluidity or smoothness tends to go out the window.

The moral of the story is that I have a lot of things just outside my window right now, thanks to the Tower of Babel (pictured on the right).

-Each day is another pill of humility.
-Each day I am learning more and having more opportunities to use the language and not just know about the language.
-Each day I laugh at myself and I cry (ok...not really...but I do feel quite stupid and embarrassed when I can't dial up a word I need to say).
-Each day my classmates seem like more of my closer friends, because we are going through the same trial/testing/frustration/questions. If you want to make some really close friends, I would suggest going to language school.
-Each day our professors lovingly and patiently put us back on track after we have caused a large linguistic train wreck.

To end on an extreme dose of humility...try saying this Spanish tongue twister with native fluidity and correct pronunciation.

Los hombres con hambre hombre,
abren sus hombros hombrunos sin dejar
de ser hombres con hambre hombre hombruno.
Si tú eres un hombre con hambre hombre hombruno,
pues dí que eres un hombre con hambre
y no cualquier hombre hombruno sino
un hombre con hombros muy hombre, hombre.

( Note: I got the above from this source so don't complain to me if there are some grammar issues in the tongue twister above...i.e. Steph)

Thanks for your continued prayers for my learning of the Spanish language. It is so easy to want the product and not being willing to got through the process (and believe me language learning is a process...and a slow one at that). The big picture reason why I am here in south Texas is to build a foundation in the Spanish language so that when we eventually get to Chile, I will be able to share the Gospel and Biblical truth.