Emi Me Encanta el Español (see what I did there?!)

I love speaking a non-native language. As I’ve repeatedly told my friends, family, and any poor acquaintance who will listen, I will forever be bitter about the fact that I technically could’ve been trilingual (since my parents are both American immigrants, from the Ukraine and Poland respectively). I’ve forgotten much of the limited Russian I knew when I was younger, and I was never taught Polish to begin with.

As I got older and learned the value of bilingualism, I adopted the Spanish language with open arms – from first learning it throughout high school and college, and now actively trying to maintain it by studying/working in Spanish-speaking countries (Guatemala, Spain, and now Bolivia). I’ll admit, my experience here is not 100% immersive, since Colosa is an American-based company and therefore my work is in English, my supervisor speaks English to me (he’s the only other native English speaker in the office), and many of my Bolivian colleagues speak English on a daily basis.

 

A quote I liked on the side of a building - "To dream is to wake up in another reality"

Nevertheless, I’ve made a few Bolivian friends with whom I speak Spanish, I exclusively speak Spanish with my homestay family, and city life requires me to speak Spanish with a variety of people – from restaurant and grocery store employees to street fair and kiosk vendors (known as “gremiales”). So, everyday I try to learn new vocab words, identify grammatical errors in my speech, and make any other minor changes that accumulate over time to make my Spanish better.
 
P.S., to get the play on words in the title, you should know that with the verb encantar (to love), it is grammatically correct to say “a mi me encanta” when you’re saying “I love” something. Does making puns (admittedly, pretty crappy ones) in Spanish qualify me for fluency?! Doubtful, but at least it’s something, right?

Hasta mañana,

Emi