One of my goals for this winter was to improve my Spanish and gain more fluency. I really didn’t know what that meant because I had no idea what level I was starting at. After four months or so, I was able to use Berlitz’s linguistic proficiency level scale to not only figure out where I started, but also to quantify my progress.
I started shakily in functional level 2. “At the functional level, you have a basic command of the language needed in a limited range of simple, routine, and familiar tasks and situations.” This is evident from the fact that I was able to negotiate the apartment, deal with TelCel, and do basic business interactions immediately upon arriving, but had a difficult time when going ‘off script.’
I am now hovering between intermediate levels three and four. This is reflected in the fact that I can now following simple conversations and discuss more complex topics, but am still struggling with verb tenses, vocabulary deficiencies, and understanding idle conversation.
Yesterday, I got chicken for the first time in weeks, if not months, and for the last time this winter (there’s nothing wrong with it, I just got bored!). I got there late and the line up was long. All the chatter made me realise oral comprehension really needs to be my focus for next winter.
I have good comprehension in one-to-one situations, but put me in a middle of a crowd and I only catch the odd word or phrase. I also rarely understand two Mexicans talking to each other. I know that watching simple Spanish programming with Spanish subtitles this summer will go a long way to helping me hit the ground running on this issue next year. It would unlock a lot of mysteries of Mexican social mores to be able to sit on a bench and eavesdrop on conversations!
But I do get some of what I hear and what I understood yesterday at the chicken stand was further evidence of the progress I’ve made. After the vendor took money from a little girl, I clearly understood, “Tell your mother she owes me five pesos” from a few rapidly fired words.
And guess what I was able to do? As soon as the vendor had a moment to breathe, I asked her if the price had changed for a half chicken and she said, “Yes, to 55 pesos.” I know for a fact that when I got to Mexico in November, I wouldn’t have been able to understand her comment to the little girl in any way that would relate to me, much less be able to formulate a related question and be able to understand the response!
I helped some friends move today and they hired two Mexican movers. I warned the guys that I understand Spanish in case they wanted to say anything negative about my friends or the move or whatever, all of which I didn’t want to hear. They said a few things to me in Spanish as we did 50 billion trips down a very, very, very, very long flight of stairs (I got my exercise today!), but mostly stuck to quite good English for my friends’ benefit.
Later, at the new house, the two movers and I flopped down for a break while my friends settled things with their landlord. The guys started chatting with me in Spanish and the conversation was really quite in depth, almost to the level of what I would share with my riding guide. Once again, their English, like my landlady’s, is excellent, much better than my Spanish, and they chose to speak to me in Spanish. That tells me I’m not bumbling along with the language as badly as I think I am!
(They find the dogs and roosters as annoying as I do, by the way. I’m glad to know that!)
Finally, there’s another thing I’ve been able to do this winter, simple translations, like I did from my riding guide to my riding buddies. I’m also doing simple Spanish transcription when I have extra time. I’m not getting paid for this, but it’s experience for which I’m getting good feedback. So who knows, I might be able to add Spanish proficiency to my resume in a year or two!
