After a year of Latin in high school, my parents and I moved to a new town for us, Seminole, Texas - about as far West Texas as you can get, without being in New Mexico. Since I enjoyed Latin, I signed-up for Spanish, since that was the only language offerred. We had a great teacher, and I took Spanish my sophomore through senior years.
My high school Spanish seemed to "stick", even though I'm always talking to people who have totally forgotten whatever language they learned in school. Perhaps they didn't have a true love for language, or perhaps they just never made opportunities to continue their studies.
During high school, I had two labor-type jobs, so I got to work with several Spanish speakers. I can't repeat many of the "colorful metaphors" that I learned, but it was a good experience. It actually did help reinforce what I was learning in school.
Our high school Spanish Club sponsored an annual trip to Mexico city each summer. At the end of my junior year, my parents and I went, and it was another boost to learning Spanish. From a nearby Junior College, I even got three hours college credit for the trip.
I also discovered CLEP (College Level Examination Program) tests, and took the Spanish exams. My university awared me 14 hours of credit just for my Spanish! I went to college already having 17 credits (plus even more for math and science exams).
In college, I didn't major in Spanish, but almost got a minor. If I remember correctly, I had one class in conversational Spanish, and two classes in Spanish literature. I was also involved with Spanish Clubs and Honor Society on campus.
After college, I was curious about other languages, so I delved into French, Portuguese, and Hebrew. Later I even tried a sampling of Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Greek, but I can't really claim to speak those languages. Before the internet existed, it was hard to find courses, and of course they were all on audio tapes back then in the 1980s.
I got a consulting position in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1995. If would have learned more if I would have lived with a family, instead of living by myself. There were several English-only consultants in my office, and speaking Spanish really wasn't required, but I tried when possible, and was encouraged by my Puerto Rican co-workers.
After burning a lot of money on dozens of differents types of language courses, I got a good feel for which ones worked, and which ones didn't. Eventually, I started creating my own courses for Hebrew and Spanish, and started building my own Spanish online learning center. We are currently working with several native Spanish speakers from different parts of the world. - 16492
My high school Spanish seemed to "stick", even though I'm always talking to people who have totally forgotten whatever language they learned in school. Perhaps they didn't have a true love for language, or perhaps they just never made opportunities to continue their studies.
During high school, I had two labor-type jobs, so I got to work with several Spanish speakers. I can't repeat many of the "colorful metaphors" that I learned, but it was a good experience. It actually did help reinforce what I was learning in school.
Our high school Spanish Club sponsored an annual trip to Mexico city each summer. At the end of my junior year, my parents and I went, and it was another boost to learning Spanish. From a nearby Junior College, I even got three hours college credit for the trip.
I also discovered CLEP (College Level Examination Program) tests, and took the Spanish exams. My university awared me 14 hours of credit just for my Spanish! I went to college already having 17 credits (plus even more for math and science exams).
In college, I didn't major in Spanish, but almost got a minor. If I remember correctly, I had one class in conversational Spanish, and two classes in Spanish literature. I was also involved with Spanish Clubs and Honor Society on campus.
After college, I was curious about other languages, so I delved into French, Portuguese, and Hebrew. Later I even tried a sampling of Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Greek, but I can't really claim to speak those languages. Before the internet existed, it was hard to find courses, and of course they were all on audio tapes back then in the 1980s.
I got a consulting position in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1995. If would have learned more if I would have lived with a family, instead of living by myself. There were several English-only consultants in my office, and speaking Spanish really wasn't required, but I tried when possible, and was encouraged by my Puerto Rican co-workers.
After burning a lot of money on dozens of differents types of language courses, I got a good feel for which ones worked, and which ones didn't. Eventually, I started creating my own courses for Hebrew and Spanish, and started building my own Spanish online learning center. We are currently working with several native Spanish speakers from different parts of the world. - 16492
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