language learning

Like many high schoolers, I was required to take a foreign language in high school, so I took three years of Spanish. Then, as an English major in college, I was required to take four semesters of a foreign language, so I continued my study of Spanish.

I wasn't the best at learning Spanish. As an English major, I understood the parts of speech pretty well, but I kept trying to put the Spanish parts of speech in an English order. When I got to college, I remembered very little of Spanish grammar from high school, but I had a general grasp of pronunciation. However, I still used English-sounding letters occasionally, especially in words that are very similar in spelling and sound to their English counterparts. But learning Spanish was both a humbling and a rewarding experience for me. It was humbling because it did not come as naturally to me as other subjects did, and it was rewarding because I was able to work hard and see progress in my own ability with the language and my ability to communicate more complex thoughts.