A dear friend reminded me of English classes at school, such as the very characteristic teachers, each with their way of teaching and very determined with grammar. Also, we had a language laboratory where you would embarrassingly repeat a boring dialogue you barely understood into a cassette recorder. Not only that! Then, you had to hear your voice speaking in an extravagant tone compared to how bland Spanish seemed to me then.
And, oh lord! be aware if your classmates dare to listen to you in an exaggerated accent. By the way, my friends changed the name of the idiom’s laboratory to “idiot’s laboratory” (an operation as simple as replacing a T with glue on the M).
I, in the clouds as always, secretly dreamed of mastering English even though, at that moment, I didn't understand Anglo songs at all. I think I sang Pearl Jam's Black badly, like a thousand times, and my classmates ended up hating it.
Today my gringo family hilariously tells me about the mistakes I made when I had just arrived. People in the neighborhood where I live, Redondo Beach, also comment that my accent is very “cute.” Although, on several occasions, I have a hard time pronouncing correctly to make myself understood. Yes, I have been embarrassed several times, and sometimes it has been difficult not to feel questioned. When I speak Spanish, my mind rests, but in English, it is a constant challenge.
Thirty years have passed since the idiot’s laboratory, and I decided to live in an English-speaking country because of that same dream. Recently arrived, I joined an English writers' workshop and began writing my first novel in this language. Imagine the mistakes I made! But I didn't give up; sharing with that group of people and writing was more important to me.
Memories about what I dreamed of a while ago in my southern lands remind me of what I am capable of. Life coaching helped me to keep going with this amazing challenge, although I will always need help to work on my Chilean accent, which I hear little or nothing about in my neighborhoods.
Will there be Chileans in the South Bay area? Torrance, Lomita, Lawndale? C-H-I?
Do you resonate with this article? Comment, message me, or express yourself: what would you be capable of for a dream? And what embarrassments did you go through along the way?
Hugs, Coni.
#lifecoaching #coachdevida #redondobeach #torrance #hermosabeach #manhattanbeach #southbay #latinasencalifornia #inteligenciaemocional
Photo credit: Tony Prince Photography - Hollywood sign (Diciembre 2016)
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