Very interesting to read as someone who has been bilingual in English and Spanish since childhood and grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in NYC. I took some ESL as a kid and was very frustrated, I remember. My brain felt overloaded. Here's something funny for you: When I moved to the Dominican Republic, despite being a native Spanish speaker and being a dual citizen and avoiding all of the logistical hurdles you and other people without language/citizenship combos have to jump over, my brain was fried. I had to retrain my brain because I suddenly went from a society where everything runs in English to one where everything runs in Spanish and everything was exhausting. Suddenly I had to switch the entire way I conduct my life around. It wasn't as simple as, "Oh, yeah, I I've spoken the language my entire life," it was a mental reset. So take comfort. And you have no idea how many people have come to me for help with Spanish ser y estar over the years, haha. It boggles a lot of people's minds. Much respect to you and anyone navigating language learning, especially later in life. Bilingualism makes you see the world in different ways - that has been the case my entire life and I am blessed.
C.J. Tudor bem! Love, loved your post. Brought up many memories of my French. I really identified. On another trip-After being in Portugal for a few days and understanding nothing, when departing, I distinctly remember being at airport and hearing a Brazilian speak Portuguese. My French and Spanish allowed me to get gist of what they were saying. BP (Brazilian Portuguese) is radically different than PP.
So glad you had good time with Wendy. Saw her today and got double hugs for you and Lori. We hope to visit u next year. By then you'll be able to tell us more about Tudor bem from the Portuguese perspective. Much love and big hugs. UJ
Congrats on your great progress. We've had some distractions (friends, travel) that have set us back in our Spanish studies, but we'll be back to it soon enough.
Very interesting to read as someone who has been bilingual in English and Spanish since childhood and grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in NYC. I took some ESL as a kid and was very frustrated, I remember. My brain felt overloaded. Here's something funny for you: When I moved to the Dominican Republic, despite being a native Spanish speaker and being a dual citizen and avoiding all of the logistical hurdles you and other people without language/citizenship combos have to jump over, my brain was fried. I had to retrain my brain because I suddenly went from a society where everything runs in English to one where everything runs in Spanish and everything was exhausting. Suddenly I had to switch the entire way I conduct my life around. It wasn't as simple as, "Oh, yeah, I I've spoken the language my entire life," it was a mental reset. So take comfort. And you have no idea how many people have come to me for help with Spanish ser y estar over the years, haha. It boggles a lot of people's minds. Much respect to you and anyone navigating language learning, especially later in life. Bilingualism makes you see the world in different ways - that has been the case my entire life and I am blessed.
Tudo bem!
It’s definitely a challenging language. Here’s something I wrote a while ago which you might find helpful…https://jeremyhunter99.substack.com/p/learning-portuguese-part-4-top-10?r=57rmg&utm_medium=ios
C.J. Tudor bem! Love, loved your post. Brought up many memories of my French. I really identified. On another trip-After being in Portugal for a few days and understanding nothing, when departing, I distinctly remember being at airport and hearing a Brazilian speak Portuguese. My French and Spanish allowed me to get gist of what they were saying. BP (Brazilian Portuguese) is radically different than PP.
So glad you had good time with Wendy. Saw her today and got double hugs for you and Lori. We hope to visit u next year. By then you'll be able to tell us more about Tudor bem from the Portuguese perspective. Much love and big hugs. UJ
This is just a perfect little essay.
I love everything about it.
And how your mind works.
Thanks for the excellent report! Kudos to you both for such good effort, work, and successes.
Satisfação na variedade de nuances… um antídoto para a nossa polaridade?
Great musing! 🌱
Congrats on your great progress. We've had some distractions (friends, travel) that have set us back in our Spanish studies, but we'll be back to it soon enough.
Great piece!
Thank you 😊