My Journey to Learning Spanish: A New Year Resolution

I’ve decided to begin learning a new language in the new year. When I was homeschooled, my mom did her best to teach us Spanish, but that effort was in vain. I don’t remember the teacher’s name in the video, but he always wore a loose dress shirt, a tie, and a mustache. When I went to middle school, I took Spanish for three years, but not much of that stuck. His first name was Bernard. Latin was another language my mom had exposed us to when we were homeschooling. When I got to high school, I had to pick all my classes for the first time. This was a freedom that I enjoyed. I decided to take three semesters of Latin. The first two were enjoyable and relatively easy, and I understood what we were learning. Latin three went right over my head. I got a B in the class by doing two presentations; one was required, and the other was extra credit. I worked very hard on those.
I remember going on a mission trip to Panama, and someone there said that to speak a language fluently, one must learn it from birth. Upon hearing that from what I’m sure was an unreliable source, I just decided learning a foreign language wasn’t for me. My time working at a doctor’s office interested me in learning Spanish. Even though I no longer work there, the benefits of speaking another language became very apparent during my time there. To access the practice’s translation service, I would have to call a number, wait on hold, and then pass the phone, along with its cord, and the translator would have to translate between myself and the patient. I knew enough Spanish to ask patients to sit down to let them know they were done with the check-in process. So far, my experience with Latin has been serving me well.
In Latin, we wrote down the endings of verbs to denote who was saying the word. Inevitably, I would add the wrong ending to the verb, and Magistra (Latin term for female teacher) would have to correct it. Magistra would often correct anyone’s mistakes by asking us to read aloud and then going over the mistakes with the class, explaining the correct answer. She was always very patient. The endings of Latin verbs are very similar, if not identical, to the ones in Spanish I’m learning currently. My goal in learning Spanish is to eventually understand medical terms in Spanish. When I worked at the doctor’s office, I often wished I could explain different tests, procedures, and terms on paperwork to Spanish-speaking patients.
I will keep y’all updated on my progress.