So, are you fluent, they ask me?  After being in this country for several years you would think so.  I have found learning Spanish, and I am talking about the holy grail of “fluency” and not simply being able to ask where the bathroom is, to be one of the great struggles of my 47 years existence.  No I did not know a word when I arrived here back in 2001, despite having taken some high school Spanish (o.k. maybe I could count to ten, but that is about it). Let me share a story to illustrate. When I first came to Costa Rica I was involved in a large business deal. For the next two years I was around Ivy League types from the U.S. who were involved on the other side of the deal and they of course could speak Spanish (and French and German and Russian and Mandarin Chinese and every other friggin language known to man).  The national elections were in full vogue and campaign signs were everywhere.  There were these ubiquitous billboards with a slogan of one of the candidates for president that read “vota por usted.”  One day in my bewilderment, I asked the group as we drove passed one of these signs, now exactly who is this “Usted” fellow?  Well, let’s just say that I never lived that one down.  After that I really did become the “hick” from South Carolina in way over his bumpkin head.  For those of you (from South Carolina) who may not “get it” you see “usted” means “you” and the slogan was supposed to mean a vote for me is a vote for you.  I was confused and thought “usted” was the candidates name, hence my ridiculous question.  Well, I do have to say I have come a long way since then.  Let’s put it this way, you see a few gringos in Castros Bar singing Karaoke in the King’s English (you know, worn out Sinatra tunes and such), but I am the ONLY gringo with the kahunas to get up there on Friday night and sing Spanish Ranchera of the Vicente Fernandez variety (I must say it usually brings the house down).  However, let me make one thing perfectly clear, especially to my tico (and Colombian) friends.  There is a gulf of distance between being able to ask where the bathroom is and being fluent.  Fluency means losing the need (or habit) of having to translate from one language to the other in mid-thought.  There are also varying levels of fluency in the different mediums of communication. I would rate myself 90% fluent when it comes to reading and writing in Spanish, maybe 70% listening and about 60% speaking.  The speaking comes mainly with practice….you must speak.  The problem is that many ticos have the view that either you’re fluent or you don’t speak Spanish at all, and that can be annoying and also impede one’s willingness to practice.  But that is just a little annoyance one has to learn to put up with in the process of becoming fluent.  Best to have fun with it and go ahead and take the risk of making a fool of yourself.  Life is your classroom.  Becoming fluent in Spanish remains one of the great challenges of my life and another reason I love Costa Rica.  I will get there someday. In the meantime, I will just keep saying “como se dice…….”

Pura Vida!

Link to Online Spanish Dictionary

Link to Online Spanish Verb Conjugator

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