Up there for thinking

Learning a language is one of the recommended ways of keeping our brains active as the years roll on and we start to experience the effects of the good life. And although I can't quite recall, I think memory loss is one of the main ones.

Anyway, a couple of years ago I decided to pursue my interest in Spain and the Spanish language (espanol). I enrolled in some introductory courses and investigated available online resources. I've also been fortunate in having some family members interested in language learning. All good.

Er, well, not so fast. Language is actually more than just a means of communication; it is a cultural phenomenon. The languages spoken in various countries around the world (including the hispanic world) reflect the various cultural and personal norms and characteristics of the inhabitants of those countries.

The upshot of this is that to speak a language Spanish well you have to try to change more than the words you utter, you need to change the way you speak - the animation, the intensity, the formality and move your mouth and tongue and even your whole body in different ways.

So the challenge is not just vocabulary or grammar or the memory test mentioned above. This cultural challenge is what needs to be kept in mind as we struggle with irregular verb conjugations, indirect pronouns and the reflexive and all the other paraphernalia of the language. Ay caramba!

Before we get too depressed, let's think about first steps - knowing some words in the foreign language is a good start - and luckily we all know quite a lot of them, because they will be the same or very similar to our English words thanks to the common Latin origins of most European languages.

This, in fact, is where most introductory Spanish language courses begin because the teachers don't want to scare you off; they don't want to alert you to the horrors and heartache ahead.

But I exaggerate, it's only when you try to speak in a foreign language to a local or listen to a native speaker in full flight that the realisation that learning that language is going to be REALLY DIFFICULT!

Don't let anyone tell you learning Spanish is easy. It's not ... but anything worth doing well is going to take you out of your comfort zone. Trial and error, especially the error part - not being afraid to make mistakes - is the journey. It's rough. I should know - I've got the mental bruises to show for it.

That's it for now - too much thinking is counterproductive. And my tiny brain needs a rest.

Adios and hasta lavista.