Robert:
I see it constantly. Americans and Canadians that move here filled with good intentions about learning to speak Spanish. They take a few classes in the first couple of years.
But, they hang out with mostly other gringos, with whom they always speak English. Pretty soon, they lose interest in their Spanish classes. "I wasn't getting anywhere." "It's too hard!" "I'm too old to learn this stuff!" 10 or 20 years go by, and they speak still only a few words of Spanish.
They have no idea, and will never know, how many dimensions of this culture they are missing.
Yes, most people just give up. Why? Because learning a second language is hard. It's hard as hell. You must approach it with discipline and real determination. It is a tedious grind that takes years. Forget those absurdly silly language course come-ons that promise to have you speaking a foreign language "in 30 days!" That's ridiculous. It's ludicrous, fraudulent advertising, designed to separate you from your money and nothing more.
If you are motivated, disciplined and realistic, you can eventually get to real fluency. But along the way know that you will get dead tired. You will get bored. You will feel you aren't getting better. But in spite of all that, you must just keep on studying, and power through. You must. Or, it will never happen. But if you are one of the few who do keep at it, tirelessly, it will be worth it. And you can do it, have no doubt about that.
Check out the fine article below about the daunting process, but endless rewards, of learning a second language. The author is grappling with French, but no matter. The difficulties and frustrations are pretty much the same for students of Spanish. Or any language.
Learning A Second Language
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