So, I’ve been in Madrid for almost two months now and I’m starting to wonder if I’m on the right track to improving my fluency. I honestly don’t know, and it scares me. I met a girl at church a couple of weeks ago from California. She told me she had been living in Spain for the past two years and will be leaving in December of this year. I asked her if she was fluent in Spanish she responded, “No, but I’m really good.” I was shocked and a little frightened because I plan to be here for two years as well, but one of my main goals is to be “fluent” not just “Really good”. Her excuse for not being fluent was the fact that she continuously socializes with her American friends here in Spain. I knew before leaving the US that socializing continuously with Americans would hinder my progress in achieving my goal. That’s why I chose to be an Au Pair.
I don’t want to freak out, or put too much pressure on myself for the lack of noticing progress. I can’t help but to evaluate my current habits, to make sure I’m taking the necessary steps I need to achieve my goal. I teach English during the day and play with the kids (in English) for about three hours at night. I try to speak Spanish in between with the professors at my school and my host parents after the kids go to bed, but I don’t know if that’s enough. I try to limit weekends with my American friends, and opt to stay home and watch TV in Spanish or talk with my Host Family instead. The only problem with that is that I can only speak English to the kids when they’re around and if I talk with the parents around the kids, it will most likely be in English.
