Completed June 30, 2009 @ Calgary, AB
It is really difficult to say once and for all that I have “learned Spanish.” I still learn new words and phrases all the time, so I haven’t mastered the language, but I can certainly get by.
My first training in the language was in 2004-5 through classes put on by the Edmonton Hispanic Bilingual Association.
I jumped into level 3 believing my knowledge of French would carry me somewhat and I didn’t want to spend weeks on colours and days of the week. I had three great teachers in levels 3, 4 and 5; they were from Chile, Colombia, and México.
I continued to build my Spanish skills in when I moved to Guatemala for three years in the fall of 2005. I felt pretty comfortable with the language and a guy in a hardware store even asked me if I was from Spain because he couldn’t place my accent.
In 2008, I moved to Calgary and began teaching again. As part of my assignment I was to teach beginner spanish to 8th and 9th grade.
I’ve read bits and pieces of things in Spanish and even started the classic and perhaps the crown of Spanish literature: Don Quijote de la Mancha.