Spanish is such a cool language because the variety of ways it can be spoken is immeasurable. Instead of trying to mimmick any one particular accent along my language learning journey, I decided to piece together ways of speaking it that felt authentic to me. I never wanted to feel like I was being someone I am not just for speaking another language. One of my biggest fears has always been feeling like an imposter. However, at the same time I also wanted to honor the culture and beauty of the language by pronouncing words well and having it sound at least similar to the ways I’ve heard it spoken. My approach was to learn the fundamentals of Spanish pronunciation and grammar and to put my own personality into my expression of the language. In doing so, I knew that I could still feel like I was being myself while also being able to communicate in a whole new way. I find that possibility to be a beautiful thing about language learning.

*Me teaching a class in Advanced Oral Communication in Spanish at SLU’s Madrid campus, 2014*

There’s a fine line, though, between maintaining respect for the language by learning to speak it well and completely adopting a new identity with the intention of presenting yourself as a native Spanish speaker. One of the ways that I know I am being true to myself is when native Spanish speaking people compliment my Spanish but also let me know they cannot identify what accent I have or where I might be from. That is very intentional! I do not want to pretend that i grew up in Dominican household, for example. It might be different if I had spent over 20 years of my life living in a specific Spanish speaking region and consequently adopted the accent of the environment in which I was immersed for the majority of my life. However, that is not the case for me. I may have studied the language for over 20 years, but my immersion experience was different.

I first learned a lot as a college undergrad from my Mexican friend, Paco. I remember learning from him that the term “neta” means “for real or truth” in Mexican Spanish. During this time period, (2006- 2008) I also learned from several people from a wide variety of Spanish-speaking countries in an online languange exchange platform called “SharedTalk” by Rosetta Stone. For whatever reason, they decided to shut that program down years ago- but that was a fundamental part of my language learning journey. I would often participate in chat rooms to learn Spanish from people who were there to learn English. Honestly, langugage exchange is one of the best ways to learn, in my opinion, because you and your langugae partner have comparable deficits in the language you are trying to acquire- which makes it feel like a safe space for learning because neither of you can judge the other. This dynamic allows participants to feel at ease joking with one another about their respective challenges acquiring the new language.

*Me after Salsa dancing in Madrid with my roomie Elisa to my left and her friends across from us, 2015*

I lived in Spain for a total of 3 years, not entirely consecutive. My first year was with Carmen Moreno, my Spanish host mother in Alcalá de Henares from 2009 to 2010. She taught me a lot about Spanish cuisine. She taught me how to make dishes such as tortilla española and lentejas. That year, I also made an Argentinian friend, Eduardo, who taught me about the significance of Mate- the national beverage of Argentina, as well as El asado (grilled meat). My second and third year in Spain I was pursuing my Masters in Spanish Language and Literature through Saint Louis University in Madrid from 2013 to 2015. During this time, my Salvadoran roommate, Elisa, taught me how to Salsa dance at a Cuban night club called “El Son”. We would go there almost every Friday or Saturday night. Naturally, I also met and interacted with many Cuban people living in Madrid. My third year in Spain, I lived in a predominantly Dominican neighborhood where I would often get my hair done at the salon downstairs and my coffee from the dominican bakery around the corner. That year I also joined a workout group with Hispanic expats from places like Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru, to name a few.

My point in sharing all of this is that the way that I speak Spanish is heavily influenced by a wide variety of Spanish speaking cultures. I have always embraced all the cultural differences that I either learned about through my studies or in my interactions with people from places all over the Spanish-speaking world. From these experiences I have learned to become more secure in my unique way of expressing my thoughts in Spanish because I have always kept an open mind about the process and maintained the ultimate goal of making meaningful, cross-cultural connections and staying true to who I am.

Ultimately, the key to maintaining authenticity while learning a new language is to not try to change who you are, but rather to incorporate your own personality into your unique way of speaking the language. It is to share your own culture and personal story just as much as you learn about the journey and culture of your Spanish-speaking acquaintances. You must validate your own experience just as much as you validate those you are learning from. In other words, there must be a balance.

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