Connections

I earned three stars out of five for my first Spanish composition. Three stars is not so good, but I am excited anyway.

I was reading through the pile of three hundred and forty some articles that had accumulated in my reader, when I came across Livemocha. I have had it in the back of my mind that I need to learn Spanish for a long time. And I have also been too scared to study it for a long time. I tried twice. And failed. Miserably. It was not because the language is too difficult, but because I was too scared to make mistakes. I was afraid of sounding stupid. So I said nothing.

I signed up with Livemocha and began my lessons. I couldn't believe it when, in lesson one, they told me to write about six people. They didn't even give me any cheat notes. I had to rely on memory of the vocabulary I had just learned. Now I know what my students feel like when they don't know how to spell the words they are writing. I held my breath and wrote as fast as I could, trying not to judge myself too much. When I finished, I submitted the lesson and went about other business since I didn't have a microphone for the spoken part.

I was checking my email when I saw one with very unfamiliar characters in the title. It was from a woman who is learning Hindi. She had graded my writing and highlighted my many mistakes. She is a native Spanish speaker.

I am excited. This time I am not afraid to try. Tonight I will go buy a microphone and see what people say about my oral Spanish. I can't believe that while I sat around waiting for the grocery store traffic to die down on a Sunday afternoon, I have communicated with two new people from two different countries.

This is way more fun than safely saying nothing! It is still a stretch for me, but I can't wait to try again. I bet this time will be different.