Spanish Dreaming
They say dreaming in another language is one of the best signs of progress. It means you’re really beginning to think in that language. After five months, it finally happened to me! The dream wasn’t completely in Spanish, but who cares? Vanesa and I were somewhere in Fargo, walking down the bike path with Paul, Leah, and a few others. For some reason, Paul went off the path, discovered the house of this older guy and started talking with him. It turned out he was German and spoke Italian and Spanish as well. We finally found him and I started engaging the old man in conversation. It turned out he had family in Argentina and this is when I broke into Spanish. I ripped off a few sentences without any hesitation whatsoever. I told him of my love for the language and frustration with my inability to understand the Argentines because of the accent and the Italian influence on the local dialect and vocabulary. It wasn’t a lot, but I’ll take it!
One of the next, more official possibilities will be to take the Intermediate DELE (Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera) exam. This is a very difficult test with both intermediate and advanced levels and is the equivalent of the TOEFL (Test Of English as Foreign Language) in English. It’s the official exam of the Instituto Cervantes of Spain and officially certifies you as being able to speak and comprehend the language at a given level. It requires a specific focus during classes as there is different vocabulary and phrasing at times. The next exam date is in May and is probably too soon for me. More than likely, I will take the exam in November.
