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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Houston, Tejas
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But seriously....

After being married for 2 years and noting that she wasn't teaching me grammar (verb conjugation), I took a year of conversational Spanish classes twice a week. Shortly after that I started traveling to Romania, through France. Over 3 years I spent a lot of time getting my French up, picking up Spanish and learning rudimentary Romanian (the bastard red-headed step child of romance languages).

I wouldn't call myself fluent in any of them. But I certainly can get around in Paris in French and in Mexico in Spanish. I can carry on "easier" conversation with my in-laws. The best way is to take some classes and then follow up with actual conversations.

I recently was on a trip to Puerto Rico. My business associate asked why I wasn't speaking Spanish, what was the issue. I said "speed". He slowed down his speech and we spent most of the rest of the night in Spanish. I think if I spent a year in Mexico or Puerto Rico I could be semi-fluent.
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The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the engineer adjusts the sails.- William Arthur Ward (1921-1994)
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Old 07-25-2018, 03:55 AM
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