School's Out!! - Part 2

Apparently, I never imagined how busy this trimester would be!

Yet, here we are...4 months later...another trimester of Spanish completed...with not one blog written or posted!

So much for my grandiose plans for more frequent blog posts. (insert shrug here)

So...

What can I share with you about this last trimester?

Other than the obvious...that we learned more Spanish! ;D

I know...let me share a little of what goes on in my brain when it comes to speaking Spanish.

Now, I know you are probably thinking this is a very dangerous idea and maybe it is, but it is just to give you an idea.

Let's pick a simple sentence like..."I went to buy fruits and vegetables at the market this past weekend."

1. I know I am talking about myself, so I use "Yo"

2. I have to remember my verb for "went" is "ir", but I have to conjugate it from its infinitive form, so in present it would be "voy" when using it with "yo", but I am referring to the past, so it is "fui", but if I were referring to an event I do multiple times not just this specific time, then I would have to change the conjugation to "iba" but I'm only speaking about this specific time that has ended and not weekly for me, so I am using "fui" this time.

3. I am also having to use another verb "to buy" but because it comes after my initial verb, then I don't have to conjugate it, so it stays in its infinite form as "comprar."

4. Now I need to remember my vocabulary words for "fruits and vegetables", which is "frutas y vegetales."

5. "At the market" would need to be translated as "en la feria."

6. Lastly, "this past weekend" would be "este fin de semana pasado."

After going over all that in my head, I have to put it all together to say..."Yo fui a comprar frutas y vegetales en la feria este fin de semana pasado."

In English, my mind processes the words as they come, but in Spanish, I have to stand in silence while I allow the entire process to be completed and then state my sentence...

So what you hear is...

Question (Spanish-speaking person)
Long silence (from me)
Answer (me)
Followed by another question (Spanish-speaking person)
Followed by another long silence (from me)
Answer (me)
And then Spanish speaking person rattles off a bunch of Spanish while I stand there nodding and hoping that I am getting all they are saying and I am not agreeing to join the gym or something even worse.

I'm hoping that you are getting the picture.

Learning the verbs didn't seem difficult, learning to conjugate them in present didn't seem much worse, but after adding the past perfect and imperfect I now have one verb with 15 different options of use and I gotta remember them all as I am speaking.

My brain hurts (Mi cerebro me duele!) just thinking about having to do this with every sentence.

And don't even get me started on questions, the placement of all the words in the sentence (like nouns go before adjectives) and all the hand-gestures I use to help myself while I am talking. If you thought I used my hands alot when I spoke English, you haven't seen anything yet!

I'm sure all the Costa Rican ticos enjoy watching the gringos process, formulate and speak their native tongue all while making wild hand-gestures in the air.

In closing, this is just a sample of language learning for me.

During this break between trimesters, I will be practicing my Spanish, but I will also need a little break... simply because there is steam coming out of my ears and I believe that it is coming from my over-heated brain!