Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life?
I’m a native English speaker which has facilitated my laziness in never becoming fluent in a second language. (That’s my excuse anyway.) I’m in awe of all the bi and tri linguals here on WordPress.
The closest I ever got to fluency in another language was Italian during my semester in Rome, but that’s mostly gone now. It was so long ago. If you don’t use it, you lose it.
I can also pull out some words and phrases in French and Spanish when necessary. But let’s face it, it is very rarely necessary. Nearly everyone I encounter, even when traveling, speaks English.
Exciting news! I won a free sandwich at my local convenience store & deli. The guy that called to tell me the good news is a native Arabic speaker, but his English is great, just like so many other immigrants.
Coincidentally, I’m LX too—same as the Super Bowl.
Last night was a bummer for Pats fans, but hey…nobody ever expected them to make it to the Super Bowl this year. It’s just too bad they were never really in the game. Husband disappointed, but not crushed.
On the bright side, Bad Bunny was awesome. I closed the activity ring on my Apple Watch dancing along. No, I didn’t understand most of the Spanish, but I liked the vibe. My favorite part was the ending where they came dancing straight towards the camera flying all the flags of the Americas.
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love” was the message on the screen above the flags.
It definitely felt like a big F U to Trump and ICE and all that they represent—white nationalism, hate, fear.
I took my family to Puerto Rico in 2016, because I really wanted to see it. We liked it a lot. Ahead of that trip, I tried to learn some Spanish with an online language learning program through my library. I gained a lot of words, but no real fluency. I did the same thing before a trip to Mexico.
Bad Bunny made me want to give it another shot at some point.
My kids and me on a street in San Juan in 2016
A very hot kitty resting in a tree trunk in Old San Juan in the summer of 2016
A stop on the way to El Yunque National Rainforest in Puerto Rico
Final thought: Brandi Carlile did a beautiful version of America the Beautiful—it would make a much better national anthem.
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