If you're bilingual and have little opportunity to use one of the languages...

[helena]

how did you find people and places to speak??

I'm sick of not using my second language. I can only talk/sing to myself so much. :)

 

My kids are off on their own languages of choice, I seriously blew it not raising them to speak it. I speak Spanish to them everyday, but it's just simple stuff like commands, nagging, and terms I've always just used in Spanish. 

 

I'm hurting for it. Anyone else BTDT?? How did you fix it?? Meetup groups? Online classes? 

[helena]

The only people my husband can speak German to are is mother and brother.  He calls his mother once a week.  I suppose that is better than nothing.  He does watch a lot of German TV shows and movies.  He also reads in German daily.

 

I wonder if there is a way you could find someone to skype with or something like that. 

Unfortunately, no matter what language we speak, conversations with dad will be rough. He'd love it though. Maybe sometime down the road...

 

I've been poking around some tv shows in Spanish. I'm laughing as I type this. I'm going to have to find something better than scream-y, gossip crap.  :lol: I had to force myself to turn it off. I'm going to go find some movies right now!

[Wilma]

I have a neighbor from Colombia, and we talk a walk together a couple of times a week and chat.  It's usually Spanglish, but for me it counts.  I also enjoy Spanish pop music -- Shakira and Juan Luis Guerra and Carlos Vives are my faves -- and occasionally listen to the talk radio.

[Jean in Newcastle]

How diverse is your area?  I meet people who speak Japanese at the Y, the grocery store, the library.  I smile and say hi in Japanese.  Sometimes that is all it is.  Sometimes it has led to a friendship and I get invited to Japanese parties or out to Starbucks.

[gardenmom5]

dd had a roommate who also spoke French  -  they would watch French language movies, as well as using a French soundtrack for other movies.  she was never 'quite' fluent in French as she didn't have as much opportunity to speak it.  now, she's fluent in Spanish and if she speaks French she tends to slip into Spanish.

 

she has more opportunities to speak Spanish, both at work where she will have Spanish speaking patients; and at church where she is currently serving/attending a Spanish speaking branch. 

 

some other opportunities - tutoring in a college level language lab, tutoring in a foreign language school.  (here, we have Chinese school, Japanese school, French school, the school district has a Spanish school.  they vary from one-day a week to full-time.

 

there are also translation services for parents/patients/etc. who need a speaker of their own language who can also translate into English/primary spoken language in the area.  (they are generally on-call/as-needed, but you get paid.)

[helena]

I have a neighbor from Colombia, and we talk a walk together a couple of times a week and chat.  It's usually Spanglish, but for me it counts.  I also enjoy Spanish pop music -- Shakira and Juan Luis Guerra and Carlos Vives are my faves -- and occasionally listen to the talk radio.

That's what I need. In fact there's a lady from our old neighborhood (near by) that I think wanted to become friends. I'm such a freak though, and I let it pass me by. I regret losing that opportunity for friendship. Do you think it's be weird to stop by her house and try again? There's not a lot of Mexicans around here, she might be glad too??

 

I'm really into Ranchera, and other genres. Juan Luis Guerra is an old fav too.

Talk radio... good idea!

[helena]

How diverse is your area?  I meet people who speak Japanese at the Y, the grocery store, the library.  I smile and say hi in Japanese.  Sometimes that is all it is.  Sometimes it has led to a friendship and I get invited to Japanese parties or out to Starbucks.

Incredibly diverse! I live in So Cal, so lots of Spanish speakers. It's ridiculous that I'm even having this problem. 

I can't drive much though and the town I live in has very few Spanish speakers that I've met. I did find a meetup group a town away. Maybe hubby can drop me once in awhile.

[gardenmom5]

we once had a Japanese exchange student who was so excited when she met someone who could speak Japanese fluently.  it helped ease some of her homesickness.

 

my neighbor did have fun with a rude guy at a garage sale.  he made rude comments in czech.  she answered him. in czech.  she has almost no accent, but she's czech.  (grew up watching American tv televised from Austria.)

 

jean and I live in a very linguistically diverse area.  ;p

 

How diverse is your area?  I meet people who speak Japanese at the Y, the grocery store, the library.  I smile and say hi in Japanese.  Sometimes that is all it is.  Sometimes it has led to a friendship and I get invited to Japanese parties or out to Starbucks.

 

[FaithManor]

I feel your pain. I was not fully bilingual by any stretch, but after three years of high school French, and a French minor in college, definitely proficient. Graduated and promptly lost anyone to speak with so I've lost probably 75% of what I learned from lack of use.

 

I thought MAYBE I'd regain if the boys decided to study French. Nope, I have one taking online Icelandic Lessons, one in online German, and one that when he exits his Latin studies is thinking Hebrew or Arabic! ARGH!

 

It's just not easy if you do not live in a college town with accessibility to the campus or a diverse, multi-cultural area.

 

At one point, dh worked for two years with a guy from Strausburg (sp ?), France and he would often call here for dh. We would converse lightly for just a couple of minutes before dh would take over, and it was very, very nice. It's been 10 years since then, and I'm pretty certain I can't conjugate verbs anymore, LOL. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives...yep, I've got them. Most of the time, even in print, I'm get the gist. Speaking a coherent sentence, uhm....not so much.

 

Oh, and my sister who minored in French, recently did an absolute BLITZ of upper level French courses in ONE semester and came out with a 3.85 GPA, and is in France for six months as a prelude to getting her Master's in French. Now, you would think that over the years, she would have helped me maintain. Nope, our schedules were so insane that it was rare we could find time alone to converse. She is going to end up fluent, and I'm going to be the "I remember how to greet someone and say I have a headache" gal. It's kind of embarrassing to say the least.

 

I've been challenging myself though. The old textbooks are out, and she's been blogging in English, but I respond in French. Sometimes it takes me a half hour to craft a two sentence response without errors, but dog gone it, I'm doing the work, LOL!

 

It's just very, very difficult in many areas of the US to find someone to practice another language with on any regular basis. Sigh..... Even though I push the boys hard in their foreign language studies, the reality is it's pretty much a box to be checked on their high school transcripts because we simply do not have any resources out here. Not even for the typical Spanish student. Very, very little assistance....

[helena]

I have a neighbor from Colombia, and we talk a walk together a couple of times a week and chat.  It's usually Spanglish, but for me it counts.  I also enjoy Spanish pop music -- Shakira and Juan Luis Guerra and Carlos Vives are my faves -- and occasionally listen to the talk radio.

Forgot to say... You and me both!! Spanglish speakers unite!!

[gardenmom5]

oh - my niece is rearing her kids so that she speaks English, her dh speaks Ukrainian, and the nanny speaks german. (they live in Germany)  those are the only languages those people speak to them.  my sil was laughing at her dgd expression as she was trying to figure out what language she had to use. (and we still chuckle at her "nein, no, nyet" when she was two.  and practicing her letters, she did the roman alphabet and the Cyrillic alphabet on the same paper.) 

 

[helena]

dd had a roommate who also spoke French  -  they would watch French language movies, as well as using a French soundtrack for other movies.  she was never 'quite' fluent in French as she didn't have as much opportunity to speak it.  now, she's fluent in Spanish and if she speaks French she tends to slip into Spanish.

 

she has more opportunities to speak Spanish, both at work where she will have Spanish speaking patients; and at church where she is currently serving/attending a Spanish speaking branch. 

 

some other opportunities - tutoring in a college level language lab, tutoring in a foreign language school.  (here, we have Chinese school, Japanese school, French school, the school district has a Spanish school.  they vary from one-day a week to full-time.

 

there are also translation services for parents/patients/etc. who need a speaker of their own language who can also translate into English/primary spoken language in the area.  (they are generally on-call/as-needed, but you get paid.)

I wish I was fluent enough to teach! I'm in a weird, but typical of my generation, place with language. A lot of parents at that time didn't want their kids to have a stigma of being too Mexican. I'm first generation english as a fist language (on dads side), grew up with Spanish everyday, lived with folks who only spoke Spanish, grandparents mostly spoke Spanish, studied Spanish abroad a few times. At one point I was quite solid. But now I'm all lonely and rusty.

I speak Spanglish, which is a mix of English and Spanish. Like my cousins, and friends growing up. Accent is good, vocab is good, grammar is questionable. :)

[gardenmom5]

I wish I was fluent enough to teach! I'm in a weird, but typical of my generation, place with language. A lot of parents at that time didn't want their kids to have a stigma of being too Mexican. I'm first generation english as a fist language (on dads side), grew up with Spanish everyday, lived with folks who only spoke Spanish, grandparents mostly spoke Spanish, studied Spanish abroad a few times. At one point I was quite solid. But now I'm all lonely and rusty.

I speak Spanglish, which is a mix of English and Spanish. Like my cousins, and friends growing up. Accent is good, vocab is good, grammar is questionable. :)

 

my ex-sil is Columbian.  she's been here so long she speaks Spanglish. (very thick accent. after dd became fluent in Spanish - she was excited because she could finally understand what ex-sil was saying.)

 

my recommendation for regular opportunities, is watch movies.  dvds commonly have Spanish language sound tracks.

 

[helena]

I feel your pain. I was not fully bilingual by any stretch, but after three years of high school French, and a French minor in college, definitely proficient. Graduated and promptly lost anyone to speak with so I've lost probably 75% of what I learned from lack of use.

 

I thought MAYBE I'd regain if the boys decided to study French. Nope, I have one taking online Icelandic Lessons, one in online German, and one that when he exits his Latin studies is thinking Hebrew or Arabic! ARGH!

 

It's just not easy if you do not live in a college town with accessibility to the campus or a diverse, multi-cultural area.

 

At one point, dh worked for two years with a guy from Strausburg (sp ?), France and he would often call here for dh. We would converse lightly for just a couple of minutes before dh would take over, and it was very, very nice. It's been 10 years since then, and I'm pretty certain I can't conjugate verbs anymore, LOL. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives...yep, I've got them. Most of the time, even in print, I'm get the gist. Speaking a coherent sentence, uhm....not so much.

 

Oh, and my sister who minored in French, recently did an absolute BLITZ of upper level French courses in ONE semester and came out with a 3.85 GPA, and is in France for six months as a prelude to getting her Master's in French. Now, you would think that over the years, she would have helped me maintain. Nope, our schedules were so insane that it was rare we could find time alone to converse. She is going to end up fluent, and I'm going to be the "I remember how to greet someone and say I have a headache" gal. It's kind of embarrassing to say the least.

 

I've been challenging myself though. The old textbooks are out, and she's been blogging in English, but I respond in French. Sometimes it takes me a half hour to craft a two sentence response without errors, but dog gone it, I'm doing the work, LOL!

 

It's just very, very difficult in many areas of the US to find someone to practice another language with on any regular basis. Sigh..... Even though I push the boys hard in their foreign language studies, the reality is it's pretty much a box to be checked on their high school transcripts because we simply do not have any resources out here. Not even for the typical Spanish student. Very, very little assistance....

Ugh. I do live in a diverse college town.  :blushing:

I agree, crazy schedules make even the most obvious/easy opportunities seem difficult. I've been thinking about buying some old textbooks at the used bookstore. Summer is coming, maybe I should put together some kind of home study. At the very least it'd prepare me more for if and when I find some Spanish speaking friends or group. 

 

I do think that since getting diagnosed with some serious health problems, it's taken me a stupid amount of time to find myself again. Being sick changed me dramatically for a long time. Now recently I feel like I want to get out there and be a part of the world again. I've had chances to solve this problem over the years, I was just so tired and in my little shell. 

[Dancer_Mom]

I do a meetup group.  It's really my best option since my second language (Romanian) is so obscure.  I really don't go enough but when I do it is a great experience.  Just hearing natives speak occasionally is good for my grammar.  I would love to forge a closer connection with a family to do play dates or something but that hasn't really  happened yet.

[helena]

I do a meetup group.  It's really my best option since my second language (Romanian) is so obscure.  I really don't go enough but when I do it is a great experience.  Just hearing natives speak occasionally is good for my grammar.  I would love to forge a closer connection with a family to do play dates or something but that hasn't really  happened yet.

When I first moved to this town I saw a group of women at the park with their kids. I could hear that they were all speaking Spanish from different countries at different levels. That was years ago... I'm still kicking myself for not introducing myself. I don't want to be shy or passive about it anymore. It's a bummer to not speak your own language. KWIM? Things can feel different or more correct in the other language. I like the way I sound in Spanish. 

 

I think a meetup group could work well for me too. I like that I wouldn't be tied down to do all the activities and meetings. :)

[Matryoshka]

I try to read at least one book a year in both foreign languages I speak.  I watch movies in them sometimes. 

 

I found a few other fluent Spanish-speakers, but it's hard to stay in Spanish in an English environment.  I've been trying to set up a Spanish book club with some of them; we had one meeting and it went very well, but no one liked the second book and it fizzled.  I'd like to resurrect it.

[G5052]

I grew up tri-lingual, and have pretty much lost them, I'm afraid.  Every once in awhile I'll speak with a workman or hear dialog in a movie and a little will come back, but not much.

 

It's pretty tough unless you have regular practice.  I know that in my metropolitan area there are clubs that meet centered on certain languages and cultures, but that's not something I can add to my busy schedule at present.

[helena]

I try to read at least one book a year in both foreign languages I speak.  I watch movies in them sometimes. 

 

I found a few other fluent Spanish-speakers, but it's hard to stay in Spanish in an English environment.  I've been trying to set up a Spanish book club with some of them; we had one meeting and it went very well, but no one liked the second book and it fizzled.  I'd like to resurrect it.

I love this idea!

I used to read a lot of Latin American literature, but in English. Maybe I should look for a few in Spanish. Any recommendations for a fun easy read?

 

Hmm... maybe I should reread an old favorite in English and then try it in Spanish. That might might make it a little less difficult. I wonder where all those books went??

[Wilma]

Helena, a few years ago I read all of the Harry Potters in Spanish (I hadn't read 'em before). The reading level was spot on for me - I'd have to look up some unfamiliar words here and there, but I could follow the plot easily.

[helena]

I grew up tri-lingual, and have pretty much lost them, I'm afraid.  Every once in awhile I'll speak with a workman or hear dialog in a movie and a little will come back, but not much.

 

It's pretty tough unless you have regular practice.  I know that in my metropolitan area there are clubs that meet centered on certain languages and cultures, but that's not something I can add to my busy schedule at present.

I don't want to be in this position anymore. I know it's all in there, somewhere.

The worst is when I have to speak and the other person assumes I'm totally fluent. Then I have the argument (in a good accent) how I don't really speak Spanish. And they're like "How can you sit there and tell me you don't speak Spanish in Spanish?!" :)

 

I actually got schooled a little yesterday by a French lady who teaches Spanish, that I should never say I don't speak Spanish just because I speak Spanglish. Language evolves, there's no shame in it. I was tempted to ask her if she did private lessons, but her Spanish sounded a little French, African, English-y, and I've already taken a class from a teacher with a heavy southern accent. No.  :lol: No. No. Lovely woman though...

If I run into her again, I'll ask her if she knows of any groups.

[helena]

Helena, a few years ago I read all of the Harry Potters in Spanish (I hadn't read 'em before). The reading level was spot on for me - I'd have to look up some unfamiliar words here and there, but I could follow the plot easily.

AAHHH!! Okay, now I'm excited. 

 

ETA: Just put a hold on a copy at the library! 

[Matryoshka]

I love this idea!

I used to read a lot of Latin American literature, but in English. Maybe I should look for a few in Spanish. Any recommendations for a fun easy read?

 

Hmm... maybe I should reread an old favorite in English and then try it in Spanish. That might might make it a little less difficult. I wonder where all those books went??

 

I make a point to read things in their original language if I speak it. :)

 

Isabel Allende is easy to read, and very prolific - I've read most but not all of her books.  My favorites of hers are probably the trilogy about the family in Chile, which she wrote out of order, but in chronological order of the stories:

Hija de la fortuna

Retrato en sepia

La casa de los espíritus

 

Como agua para chocolate is great and easy to read.

 

I also just finished another triology, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón; I liked them all, but the first and third one more...

La sombra del viento

El juego del ángel

El prisionero del cielo