Well, I went to Mexico in 1999 with my best friend. At the time, I knew a few phrases in Spanish, but not much else. So, my bestie, who is Fluent in Spanish, got tired of translating for me. Now, her dad doesn't speak much English, and so I had to use what I knew to talk to dad (Her parents are also Mom and Dad to me). So she told me "I'm not translating for you any more. You talk to Dad in Spanish at home!"
So, there I was, in a country where I barely spoke the language, and I felt like a rowboat minus the oars!
So I had to pay attention, and when I didn't know a word, I'd pantomime what I was trying to communicate, with a large degree of success. :-D
I vowed to myself though, that the next time I went to Mexico, my Spanish would be much better. After we got back, I set out to teach myself to not only speak the language, but read and write it too.
About 6 years later, my now ex husband (we were married at the time), and my ex father in law, went to another part of Mexico, deeper in, and my ex had to use me to translate for him! I may not be bilingual perfectly, but I can communicate and understand Spanish with few problems. I practice my Spanish everyday now. Plus, next year my bestie and I are going to Guatemala for a couple of weeks. I'm not scared, I'm looking forward to the adventure!
