Retooling Life Part 3

In Part 1 we used the article: “How To Get Your Life Back On Track When You Feel Broken” by Dharam Barrett as our framework for evaluating this process of getting ourselves back on track after massive changes in our life happened in June 2016. 
​"Learning a new language may be one of the best available ways to remind yourself that there’s an entire world out there – one that operates on a completely different premise than yours. Committing to learning a non-native language proves that you could adapt and mould to one of those other realities if you wanted to – which consequently makes you feel a little less defeated by yours."

We are retooling ourselves and we really have no idea what the final products are going to be. Part 1 is about doing something that flat out scares you. Part 2 was about unplugging from the digital world so you can experience the moments that are happening all around you right now. Part 3 is about learning a new language, number 19 on Barrett’s list. Barrett says that learning a new language is a good way to expand your worldview of yourself. With four years of French textbook and classroom learning under my belt, I, Lynette, decided since we are in Mexico I am going to learn the language and be able to speak when I am out in public. I’ve employed DuoLingo as my instructor. I’ve had a great time with it! 


While getting my credentials to teach English as a second or foreign language I learned when someone is in a new location and the language that is spoken by the locals is new to them, there is a silent period. This silent period lasts three weeks or more. In essence, it is culture shock. It is the time frame of making observations, making attempts at conversing and absorbing the sounds of the language. I am definitely experiencing this! I have gained a large vocabulary and I can read and write Spanish better than I can understand it. In my brain I know what to say, but when I get into the moment of needing to converse, only French comes up! I get frustrated with this, but I have to remind myself it is okay.

I am told by locals that my accent is very good. The people are so kind when you attempt to connect with them in their words. I find a great deal of patience and grace towards me from the locals as I try to speak and say what I want to say, or rather need to say at this point. When I tell the locals in Spanish that I am learning, the locals will often correct my words or sentence structure as I am speaking. This is very helpful. They will also speak slower, use less words, or use more simplistic vocabulary, just like I do when someone is learning English.

I’ve had a lot of laughs and funny looks from those I have talked with. For instance the laundry lady, I asked if she still had my soup from the week before instead of my soap. A local vender told me that I needed to use amiga for my female friends and not the term girlfriend which would imply that I was in relationship with another woman as in being a couple. I think the most interesting thing we have learned here so far is that adios, or goodbye is not a casual term for saying goodbye. It means “goodbye forever and I don’t want to see you again,” according to the locals where we are in La Paz, Mexico.

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Learning a new language may be one of the best available ways to remind yourself that there’s an entire world out there – one that operates on a completely different premise than yours. ​

A couple weeks ago while on a solo shopping trip into town, I met a young lady who was interested in me and started speaking to me in Spanish. When I told her I was learning she said she didn’t speak English, only a few words. She pulled out her smartphone and started typing questions to me and I did the same. We conversed for nearly an hour as I waited for my shuttle. Its funny how we didn’t even exchange our names, just conversation. She told me about the foods I had to try before leaving and the locations of shops I could find gifts at that were less expensive than some street vendors. I really had a fun time!

My most recent experience was with the Port Captain at Puerto Escondido. When I went to check in with all the vessel documents and our passports, etc. I told him I was learning Spanish. He spoke to me in Spanish for all the official process. His friend in the office was giving him a hard time for “putting the pressure on” me by all the Spanish. It was fun. What I have noticed is that sometimes I may not be able to translate what was said to me but the answer is in my head as soon as I hear the question. I am learning to trust that a bit more. Our brains are so amazing! The Port Captain, who speaks English well, said it is really good for me to stretch myself because then I know what I know and what I don’t. Noting that at some point I may be solely on my own speaking to a person who only knows Spanish.

As we have been traveling now in the Sea of Cortez, we have not had internet or cell coverage much at all. I have missed DuoLingo because it is done over cellular data. It would be really wonderful if the computer program had an off line progression that could be uploaded when we got back to areas with cell phone reception.

According to DuoLingo, I am 13% fluent in Spanish. I’ve spent many hours with the app building up my skills. We will be moving on from Mexico at about the fourth month mark. I plan to continue working on my Spanish and hopefully find others to practice with in the near future. I can see that I am increasing my skills in the middle of all the change we have experienced. I’m feeling like this is a year of retooling myself, or should I call it a self enhancement year where I am adding to what I already have? No matter how I spin this, my life has more skills in it than it did a year ago.

Tell us what you are adding to your life this year?