Another one of my 2012 goals is to learn some Spanish. Languages are hard for me, I just don’t process and retain information well. I know the best way to learn is to speak it, just do it, make mistakes, doooooo it. But I can actually feel the faulty wiring in my brain spark up when I try. I open my mouth and nothing comes out. Thankfully I know a very sweet couple (he’s from Mexico, and she lived there for 10 years) and I’ve already invited myself over to dinner to muddle through. They won’t laugh at me. Too hard anyway.
Interestingly, I have found recently that I think better with a pen in my hand. I’m following a great online series (prospanish.co.uk) which focuses on forming sentences rather than conjugating verbs. When I have to think/say the answer it takes great effort. When I write/say the answer, it’s a thousand times faster.
I suppose I’ve always known I think better with a pen. When I create new works, it’s always with pen and paper first, never on computer. Maybe the pen is the tool that properly connects my brain to the outside world. I wonder if I would communicate better with strangers (a horror show at best) if I wrote out the sentences as I spoke them. Oh yeah, that wouldn’t look weird at all. Still, when it comes to Spanish, I just might have to deal with looking weird.
The word for pen in Spanish is either la pluma or el bolígrafo. La Pluma I can visualize. El bolígrafo is going to take some work. A bowling giraffe holding a pen perhaps? Hmmm……
