The Billy-Barrou

[Junfan]

I just thought I would weigh in here to emphasize and highlight the opportunities you can create for yourself via speaking Spanish. I studied Spanish for 3 years in HS, and a few semesters in College. At that time, I was fairly conversational. On fishing trips to Mexico, I had no problems communicating, but my accent was terrible. I didn't use it for 10 years, until I began my Colombian campaign. To say my skills had eroded due to atrophy was putting it mildly.

I remember my first call to one of the girls down South...I was non-functional. I was able to pick it back up fairly quickly. Meaning six mos or so. A couple of things helped: 1)I bought a level 2 HS workbook that I would keep in the bathroom for those wonderful periods of solitude, 2)emails from Colombia in Spanish that I would translate by hand with my Larousse Dictionary and 3)watching Spanish TV, especially the news to work on the listening skills which is the hardest part. And don't forget Sabado Gigante on Saturday nights.

I probablly don't have to go into all the spoils of learning it, but your Spanish will open up a whole new world for you down there. I can't imagine going through this process without it. But I guess there are plenty of guys on this board who have done it or are doing it. Doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not here to argue that point.

And the beauty of it is you don't have to leave the US to use it! I have struck up more than a few conversations with some of the latin women working (mostly cleaning crew types in elevators or lobbies) in my building...

Junfan: "hola como esta?"
Latina: "Hola, bien gracias...y usted?"
JunFan: "Ah bien, bien gracias...me encanta el espanol, y me gusta practicarlo."

That's obviously very basic, but that's how easy it can start.

It's actually a very non-threatening event for them. Alot of the latin women living here in Dallas don't speak English. And they are here surviving in the gringo world, often intimated by the language barrier. But when a gringo speaks Spanish to them, they are often shocked, but also always friendly and obliging. And you get to know them, and it becomes fun and I have several latins (men and women) that I talk to everyday in Spanish. I am sure if I try I could network and find a young girl of my liking amongst them.

Some of you are obviously not fortunate enough to live in such Latina infested states.

Just some thoughts,
Mike

Thanks for your input junfan/Mike. Yes, knowing Spanish obviously is a great asset. I find speaking it somewhat difficult, but when I absolutely have to, I can be understood well enough at a basic level. There are a significant number of latinos/as here in upstate New York where I live. Most of them are Puerto Ricans who are quite americanized. Some of them still have difficulty speaking enough English, but because Puerto Rico is part of the US, they all know some. There is a small but growing problem of illegals here - Mexicans and Dominicans - most of them don't know any English. A boat load of them were caught crossing one of the Great Lakes here at night. After 9/11, the Coast Guard and Border Patrols have been beefed up significantly. Anyway, I do service work here, and ocasionally I need to use my limited Spanish, and it's a great feeling when I can make myself understood en una otra idoma. Necesito practicar mas. Kev

[Jim]

Junfan is 100% right about speaking Spanish and the world's it opens to you.

I learned french in high school and college and go to study in France for half my junior year. It was a truly incredible experience and this world was only open to me because I could speak French.

One of the bad results of the 60's was that school requirements became less and less stringent especially foreign language requirements. Young people, and some of us grown ups are cheated out of having total and complete access to another culture and way of viewing the world.

When Nidia treats English as a necessary evil instead of an opportunity to get integrated into the US and our culture, I find it offensive. People who travel, even with limited Spanish, the effort is appreciated by people you meet.

Jim

How about going to DALLAS to find a nice Hispanic woman???

People on this board keep saying how many Hispanic women we have here in the US who don't speak English!!! Let's start a board of the best areas in the US to find Hispanic women!!! How to meet them and what to do when you find a nice one. Does this make any since?

They are all ready here, and I can get a job any where in the US
Falcon

[Junfan]

I have had a fair amount of luck finding Latin women, who live in my area, via some of the online dating services, ie MatchMaker & Match.com

Actually, it is a gold mine.

Other places...the obvious are any latin dance clubs...here the two best for prospecting are Club Babalu and Blackberries...Tren Latino is OK, but of lower quality. There is a South American/Latin night once per month at "Cafe' Madrid" and also "Gloria's".

Hope that helps.

In the town where I live, the population is 70% Hispanic. Obviously, when I decided to look beyond la frontera, the local Latinas were already factored in. Not that there aren't some good ones here--Gringas, Latinas, and various other flavors of humanity--but I wasn't finding one that seemed like a good prospect for "lo que me queda de la vida".

Where I am, the community college Spanish classes have been a promising resource for meeting Hispanic women, one that I perhaps did not utilize to full effect (because I already had my eyes fixed past the horizon). Most of my classmates were native or heritage speakers, some were, in fact, recent immigrants. Most were taking Spanish for an easy grade. My impression is that, particularly with the recent immigrants, you might have to be a little more direct than perhaps with some locals. I believe "caballero con cajones" is how past posters have put it.

I've seen classified ads in the Spanish language weekly freebies from men who clearly weren't Hispanic. Where I live, those weeklies post the men's and women's ads mixed in together. I have no idea how the replies to those ads go.

JunFan, I like your idea about buying the HS workbook for keeping in the bathroom. I've bought many things... tapes for the car, CD's for the computer, electronic translator, etc. but I would like a good basic workbook like you're talking about as I think that's a good method for learning. I would probably use it in the same location at times, too. Where would you suggest that I could put my hands on such a workbook? That's something you don't see usually except in HS materials, possibly in university bookstores.

[Junfan]

Zorro,
I would go to a University bookstore, that's where you get the good stuff. I actually bought the one I have at a local bookstore, entitled: "Spanish Now!" (Level 2) by Christopher Kendris.

I'm sure there are literally of hundreds of them out there.