Language Update

With only a short time left here in Nicaragua, I wanted to provide an update to everyone. In this post, I will share our progress with learning Spanish. In the next, I will relate some field service experiences.

At this point, we have passed the five month mark of being here. When we were first deciding how long to come for, many told us that six months was a good amount of time to learn the language. So, do we know Spanish?

Well, by no means are we fluent and we obviously can't communicate nearly as well as we can in English, but we are able to understand and speak enough Spanish to get by. At times, we both felt frustrated and like we may never reach our goal of learning Spanish a sufficient amount. But like others had told us, the six month time frame to learn a language has proven to be right.

While living in a Spanish speaking country is a huge help, I've learned that you cannot learn Spanish merely by osmosis. You must put forth effort to learn to language. But not as much effort as you may think! I recommend studying a new concept and some new words every day. Then use those new things when you practice speaking with others. Listen to people speaking or audio recordings. Reading the language in printed form is essential as well. And finally, do not be shy. If you want to learn, you must put your self out there! Bree and I are both thankful to Sam for helping us. I playfully compare him to the spell checker on Microsoft Word when you make a mistake and a little squiggly red line appears. That was Sam for us here! We had good times laughing at our continued mistakes.

A common thing some would say to us back home was, "My brain can't learn another language!" I am always disappointed one someone says that for several reasons. Probably, they have never really attempted to learn a new language before! You have shut the door before even trying! Second, Jehovah God created our brains. Our brain is capable of so much even in our imperfect state. Third, that statement could discourage others from attempting to learn. Maybe they are having apprehensions about diving into learning a language. While living here, we have meet many from varied ages and backgrounds who have learned a new language. We only need to show love, have a willing spirit and Jehovah's powerful holy spirit will do the rest.

It is bittersweet right now, because we know that if we were staying here longer, our Spanish would continue to develop. Therefore, we are trying to make the most of our time left and are determined to keep learning when we return home!