Welcome to America- Now speak English!

After being here for a year I am still simultaneously learning and struggling with the language. Some days are great and others like today are not. The bottom line is that learning a language is very difficult and that brings me to the title of this post.

I am sure many of you have seen this bumper sticker or the group on Face Book called ....Welcome to America now speak English. Well when I was struggling today with the language and feeling frustrated this popped in my head....and I thought you know if you are someone who has this sticker or this ideal than you have more than likely never left your own country and have no idea what it is like going to a country and trying to learn to the language....and I could bet that you do not speak a second language.

I would hate for people to think welcome to Colombia now speak Spanish.....because we are all trying in our own way.

My grandparents move to the United States not knowing how to speak English and I grew up listening to my Nonna speak Italian to her sisters and listening to the Italian radio. I heard her speak with her thick Italian accent and sometimes broken English. And now that I am here trying to learn a new language, much like she had too. But there are some huge differences, first off my grandparents were not highly educated and they didn't have lots of time to learn considering they were working and raising a family of six and most importantly they did not have access to great computer software like Rossetta Stone. Yet, they did it, they managed but I am sure in the beginning it was very difficult and I am sure many people thought about them...welcome to America now speak English.

Basically my frustrating day consisted of taking Aaron to the doctor, organizing a trip with Spanish speaking friends, and dealing with a bank and online purchase problem all in Spanish....it was frustrating.

I feel like when the rest of the people around me are casually listening and speaking, I am exerting myself...trying to listen carefully to each word, translating and filling in the blanks, and then when I am responding I am thinking about what I want to say and how to say it with the words I know and then quickly scanning my brain to find the Spanish word, then conjugating it and then trying to place all the words in the right order and in the right tense.....IT IS DOWN RIGHT TIRING!

Good Noche!