Compruebe Pero No Compruebe Al Compañero

Hoy fue nuestra primera prueba. Estudié durante horas. Incluso tengo un profesor español. Pero probablemente tiene una 'c ' ... si Andy se sentía generoso.

Learning Spanish is like learning to play chess. I know the names of the pieces, and I know the rules concerning their use. But I can't apply my knowledge to win a game, I just end up pushing pieces around the board until my opponent wins.

Likewise, I can conjugate verbs. I can tell you all the right preterit endings. I know my direct and indirect object pronouns, and how to use them both in the same sentence. I can show you the format for making equality and inequality statements.

But I cannot for the life of me put all that knowledge together to form sentences.

It's frustrating beyond belief.

I gave up trying to play chess years ago, and now simply admire beautiful handcrafted chess sets.

But I refuse to quit trying to learn to speak Spanish, because one day I want to help ESL kids learn to read.

After all, what I'm trying to do is nothing compared to what they are doing. I am an adult, just trying to learn another language. They are kids, for Pete's sake, struggling to survive in a (frequently hostile) foreign culture.

I owe it to them to keep trying.

Viva educación!