How I Learnt Spanish

My Spanish speaking journey... I really don't know where to start. Soon after I was born, my mother took me to the Dominican Republic. So maybe it started then. 

In the U.S. you can choose to study either French or Spanish. I don't know why I chose the latter. Maybe my mother decided for me. She was a Spanish teacher so that would make sense. But I didn't learn a lot of Spanish through school to be honest. I never took it seriously, but also the reason to learn was never very strong either. 

I remember being a high school sophomore in an advanced Spanish class. Why I was in an advanced Spanish class, I really don't know. Probably because my freshmen Spanish teacher knew my mother spoke Spanish. But I struggled in that advanced class. One time I came into class to get extra practice. Instead of reading the book or doing homework I took a celeb magazine and began reading it and trying to figure out what it was saying about celebs. For me getting good grades was not enough of a reason to try and learn Spanish. 

Without a strong reason it's very difficult to learn a language. I found my strong personal reason to learn Spanish in 2013 when I moved to the Dominican Republic. I had to learn Spanish there because if I wanted to eat fast food, take a taxi or get my haircut I needed to explain myself in Spanish. So my language acquisition skyrocketed during that time. 

But the biggest reason I know as much Spanish as I do today is because of my ex girlfriend Mixi. I was with her for two years and spoke to her almost everyday while we were together. That repetition really solidified a lot of vocabulary and phrases to the point that I won't forget. 

So, my Spanish isn't perfect and I'm probably at a high beginner / low intermediate level. But I've gotten to this point because I found my reason to learn and I would suggest you soul search to find yours before  starting to learn any foreign language.