Speak out

When learning a new language, it is vital to speak it as much as possible. Having served as a missionary in Southern Texas right along the Mexican border, I had the opportunity to take a crash course in Spanish and then be put to work. The only way to be effective was to try and communicate as best as possible. There wasn't time for shyness or holding back on account of not knowing Spanish completely. So, as anyone who has ever studied a second (or third, fourth, fifth...) language can attest, there will be times when you make mistakes. Learning to see the humor in these mistakes and being able to laugh about them is what makes it possible for you to keep trying. And surprisingly enough, the more you make the effort to speak the new language, the faster you become proficient.
In this blog I will share many of the entertaining (and often embarrassing) errors I and other missionaries made as we struggled to help people who did not speak our first language. Additionally, upon returning to Washington from my mission, I began working with English Language Learners in a local high school. Because of my experiences with learning Spanish, I was able to understand the fear and hesitation of these non-native English speakers and tried to help them learn to laugh at their mistakes. Some of their English bloopers will also be shared here.