Ugh, I really need to be more diligent in keeping this thing up to date. So, after departing my week of hell in California, I landed in Costa Rica, and promptly got screwed by immigration (and my own stupidity). Sort have been a running theme of this trip. After a couple days of fighting, I'm in the unfortunate situation of being forced to leave the country and re-enter to extend the number of days (something I'll be taking of over the weekend).
That being said, it hasn't been all negative. While I admit I didn't make much progress in my Spanish during my week of isolation in California, the same can't be said for being in Costa Rica. I decided to attend a local language school (Costa Rica Language Academy), and have been using more Spanish day-to-day.
One thing I've noticed being back in a Spanish-speaking country is there is a distinct difference in being able to speak Spanish, and truly having a conversation. One thing I began to notice in my last classes with Audri is that sometimes things can get repeative, and it can be difficult to work things I've learned independently into fluid conversation.
For instance, in the Dominican Republic, I struggled greatly to buy things in shop because my Spanish was shaky. This is also true in Costa Rica, but less so; I managed to actually buy a bus ticket round trip to Nicaragua entirely in Spanish (with much repetition and very slowly, but it was entirely in Spanish!
I have an unfortunate tendency to want to always speak English when doing something official, and its something I need to get past. Today, I managed to break through a barrier because I managed to get my travel arrangements mostly sorted.
Which brings me to my big news; assuming everything goes well, on Monday, I'll be doing a homestay program for two weeks (followed by a week stateside for the holidays, then hopefully returning to Costa Rica until Christmas week). This will really give me a chance to integrate with Costa Ricans, and really force me to use Spanish in every aspect of my life. I'll be continuing this with 1:1 2-hour a week tutoring and really trying to get back on track with hitting my goal.
I've made good progress, there's no doubting that, but California really disrupted me, and the last week of madness really hasn't helped to say the least. We're coming up on the half-way mark, and part of me thinks I need to reevaluate my progress and where my end goal will be, but no matter what, this has been an adventure, and I have no regrets.
That being said, it hasn't been all negative. While I admit I didn't make much progress in my Spanish during my week of isolation in California, the same can't be said for being in Costa Rica. I decided to attend a local language school (Costa Rica Language Academy), and have been using more Spanish day-to-day.
One thing I've noticed being back in a Spanish-speaking country is there is a distinct difference in being able to speak Spanish, and truly having a conversation. One thing I began to notice in my last classes with Audri is that sometimes things can get repeative, and it can be difficult to work things I've learned independently into fluid conversation.
For instance, in the Dominican Republic, I struggled greatly to buy things in shop because my Spanish was shaky. This is also true in Costa Rica, but less so; I managed to actually buy a bus ticket round trip to Nicaragua entirely in Spanish (with much repetition and very slowly, but it was entirely in Spanish!
I have an unfortunate tendency to want to always speak English when doing something official, and its something I need to get past. Today, I managed to break through a barrier because I managed to get my travel arrangements mostly sorted.
Which brings me to my big news; assuming everything goes well, on Monday, I'll be doing a homestay program for two weeks (followed by a week stateside for the holidays, then hopefully returning to Costa Rica until Christmas week). This will really give me a chance to integrate with Costa Ricans, and really force me to use Spanish in every aspect of my life. I'll be continuing this with 1:1 2-hour a week tutoring and really trying to get back on track with hitting my goal.
I've made good progress, there's no doubting that, but California really disrupted me, and the last week of madness really hasn't helped to say the least. We're coming up on the half-way mark, and part of me thinks I need to reevaluate my progress and where my end goal will be, but no matter what, this has been an adventure, and I have no regrets.
