So I just got finished with my class as an English teacher. It was interesting to say the least. I've spoken English all my life but I feel as if I might be able to teach Spanish better. Maybe it's because I was never taught English, and I grew up with it. Anyway, the three children I am teaching are of the ages of 9, 12, and 14. The 14 year old has the best level of English so far than the other two, and the 12 year old has the second best. The 9 year old doesn't really have that much of an English background, so I'm going to have to start from scratch with her. It's interesting because even though I speak English, it tests my technical knowledge of its syntax and grammar. I'm going to have to do some research and make lesson plans and vocabulary lists for the future. It's going to be a little difficult at times, but I think it will be fun.

Their father is really adamant about their children learning English, and I couldn't agree more. After living in Madrid for three and a half weeks my Spanish has improved a good amount. It is so important to learn another language, especially in the globalized world we live in today. I just watched the movie Inglorious Bastards by Quentin Tarantino, and one of the actors spoke English, German, French, and Italian IN THE SAME MOVIE! I am calling it now, Christoph Waltz will win an Oscar for his role. (If you haven't seen the movie yet, do it. It may be gruesome like all of Tarantino's films, but it is one of the best films of the year. Guaranteed.)

Now back to my point. I've fallen in love with the Spanish language and I want my kids to grow up with some form of a Spanish background as well as English. There is one scene in the movie where one of the actresses says, "Don't Americans know any other language besides English?" This made me think. I feel as if Americans (not all, but a large number) have a sort of arrogance about them where they feel they don't need to learn another language while the rest of the world must learn English. It is this cultural insensitivity that absolutely grinds my gears. When you find yourself lost in translation you will realize what you have been missing your whole life as a sheltered American who lives in a bubble, separate from the outside world, only catering to your own personal desires. I didn't mean to offend anyone with this rant, but I do know there is a lot of people out there with this attitude of cultural insensitivity and I want to educate Americans on what the real world is like.

I plan on trying to learn a few more languages before my time on this planet is done. Communication is one of the greatest gifts we as human beings have been blessed with, and I plan on maximizing it to its fullest.

"Do you ever wonder what happens to the words that we send / Do they bend, do they break from the flight that they take / And come back together again with a whole new meaning."