I grew up in a monolingual home in a monolingual neighborhood. I almost never heard another language until high school. In high school, the first time I had the option to learn a world language, I choose not to take those classes. (They had a reputation in my high school of being “hard”.) I graduated from Illinois State University with a technology education degree and taught.
Then about 4 years later, my church began an orphanage in Mexico and I wanted to give my summers working there. I took two semesters of Spanish at the local community college and began my official language learning.
After those two semesters, I went to Costa Rica for 5 weeks to study at a language school that summer. Although it was a great experience living with a family, in retrospect Costa Rica may not be the best place to study. It is a beautiful country full of tourists and therefore full of English speakers.
After that summer, I took two more semesters at the local community college. About halfway through Spanish 3, I became frustrated with my lack of ability to understand spoken Spanish. I then purchased the CD set “Pimsluer’s Speak and Learn Spanish.” I would listen to these in the car or on walks.
The following semester I worked as summer staff at the orphanage in Mexico. I arrived with lots of confidence that I would be able to communicate, but after the first day I was disappointed. I still could not understand native speed speaking. That summer however, was the best summer for me for acquiring language. Lots of input with children. (They are the most patient speakers.)
The following summer I quit my teaching job and committed to the orphanage for two years. Before I arrived, my church sent me to language school for 5 weeks in Morelia, Mexico.
I then spent the next two years at the Orphanage in Sonora Mexico, solidifying my language skills and accent.