I learned some Spanish in Seville

I learned some Spanish when I was living in Seville, in the first half of 2001.

I did not study the grammar, and that is a big weakness in my ability to speak the language better. (By the grammar, I mean specifically the verb forms, of which there are many in Spanish.)

During two days of awaiting the delivery of gas canisters, I learned the basis of what would become my Spanish....

But I did learn a lot of words. And, I believe I learned some of the deeper knowledge of how the language is truly spoken. I learned things I don't even know I learned. Well, that's natural.

For several weeks, I stopped reading English-language newspapers, and read only the Spanish ones, with my Laurouse mini-dictionary, a pen and a notebook. For a while, I was posting lists of random vocabulary on my walls — but I think the excercise of writing them was more useful than having them.

Often, I would go to my café; I'd underline words in the newspaper, look them up, and copy them to a notebook. I generally tried to absorb more than I could consciously remember. I think it worked pretty well, too. Many Spanish words are at least near the tip of my tongue.

The real functioning knowledge of Spanish though — the bit that I have — probably came mostly from the job I got at restaurante Mex Rock, and from my friend Eugenia whom I met when we worked together there.

I lived in Seville from December 2000 to June 2001.

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