While I have gotten pretty comfortable with basic communication, I regularly face the frustration of just not being able to really express what I mean. The grammar and syntax of English and Spanish are extremely different, and some of my more complex thoughts have proven tricky to recreate in Spanish. Direct and indirect objects continue to trip me up, and while this is usually a non-issue, sometimes they are crucial. Some of my mistakes are much more basic, however. Last week I told my host mom that I was going to “sentir” in the couch. She gave me a confused look, paused and asked “…. sentar?” I had confidently told her I was going to feel in the couch, when I really meant to say I was going to sit on it! One mispronounced vowel and I was speaking nonsense. The only time that the language barrier was really troublesome was when I had to visit the doctor. My program directors were happy to accompany me to the clinic, however, and while I had to fend for myself for the most part, my director ensured I had a full understanding of my diagnosis and the instructions for my prescriptions (I did!). I have a very limited knowledge of medical Spanish, and when it comes down to it, Spanish simply does not have as many adjectives as English. While we have many words for different kinds of pain, irritation, etc. Spanish does not, and this made it harder to give a precise description to the doctor.
Funnily enough, the longer I am in Spain, the more I struggle with my English. I draw blanks when trying to think of words I commonly use. Sometimes, I even search for words that I later realize don’t exist—I know that there is a word or verb for some thing or action, but I surprise myself by realizing that I’m actually thinking of a Spanish word (for which it seems there is no English equivalent). How ironic that as I expand my Spanish language skills, my English lexicon shrinks!
P.S. It took me ten minutes to remember the word “accompany.”
