monicabohn

[monicabohn]

Sin prisa pero sin pausa

"Sin prisa pero sin pausa” it’s an expression equivalent to “Slowly but Surely”. This is an expression that has been in my mind lately as I try to achieve some of my study goals for this year, and I thought about it again yesterday when one of my students asked me for how long I studied English. 

The answer? I honestly don't remember the exact number of years but I think I did formal courses for about 3 to 5 years, on and off with different institutes and with the only purpose of having a second language to improve my career opportunities as an engineer. Those formal years gave me a pretty decent level of English, enough to travel to the United States, talk with people, understand them reasonably well and have a great reading comprehension. 

Then, we took the decision to move to Australia, and even though my English was good, believe me, It wasn’t good enough to pass the required English tests, and I didn’t have the confidence to work, as an engineer, in an English speaking country. I didn’t have much opportunity to practice, and you know, if you don’t use it, you lose it! I started participating in a conversation group to improve but I felt so rusty that it was discouraging.

So, I started practicing by myself at home, doing many tests, writing paragraphs, and what I hated the most, recording myself speaking and listening back to my awful fluency level and mispronunciations. It was tough! But you know what? I persevered, “sin prisa pero sin pausa”, the exercises started getting easier, I passed the required test for migration in my first attempt and I was able to move to this wonderful country.

But the story doesn’t end there, because learning doesn’t have an end. I got my first job in English and that was tough. I was under a lot of pressure and I was required to communicate over a radio quite often. Imagine the challenge of making sure people could understand my accent, and the even bigger challenge, understanding other people with an Aussie accent when I was used to the American one, with all the typical noise of a communication by radio. It was a constant battle: convincing myself I could do it, overcoming the shame of not being able to communicate as effectively as others, and realising the learnings I was gaining during the challenge. My favourite question at that moment was: What does that mean?

From there, the journey got easier. I am aware that the way I speak and write English is less than perfect, and that I struggle with some phone conversations or with words spellings, but I have learned a big lesson: My level of English has not stopped me from achieving the goals I have wanted, in fact, it may have benefited me, because it is a proof or perseverance and self-improvement.

How did I get here? “Sin prisa pero sin pausa”. As I told my student yesterday, learning Spanish is a long journey, beginning is the tough part, but it gets easier, believe me, it gets a lot easier and it is so rewarding. So, when motivation is low, remember that little by little you’ll get there, only if you don’t stop.

“Sin prisa pero sin pausa” 

What if you put this phrase on your fridge? ;)

[monicabohn]

When my students notice how the Spanish language varies across the different countries they usually ask me which one is the correct version, and that’s the best opportunity I have to say how beautiful and rich our language is.

Yes, so many accents, colloquial expressions, changes in pronunciation, among other things makes Spanish unique and correct in all its versions. Here is a fantastic video showing that, and a challenge for my readers to guess the nationalities of a few Spanish teachers.

I hope you enjoy it.

[monicabohn]

How everything started

Hello there! 

I think it’s fair to start a new blog introducing myself and telling you what’s behind the name “And now I teach Spanish”, and of course, what you can expect coming your way from this space.

Well, before letting you know a little bit of my story, I must confess that I’m addicted to starting new things and getting carried away by what I’m passionate about at a particular moment in time, that’s why I’ve tried a few different things, and I’m sure there will be many new things to come. I can’t help it!

Ok, many years ago I got an Engineering degree, apparently, I was really good at numbers, and that got me really good jobs, but after more than 10 years I was ready to move on and I studied to be a doula and childbirth educator (I know, nothing to do with numbers). I didn’t work in the childbirth business for long although I learnt pretty amazing things about our bodies and I was blessed with the opportunity to see a couple of babies being born.

A big move from a city to a smaller town, plus my interest in mental health, made me start a diploma in counselling, which I’m currently working on and I expect to work as a counsellor in the near future. While studying online I decided to try something new (because I’m really addicted to starting new things!), and I decided to try teaching Spanish.

Let me tell you, what started as something casual to have some extra income, is now the job that I have enjoyed the most. It is the thing that transforms my grumpy days into enthusiastic and full of laughter sessions, that puts my creativity into action and that let me meet wonderful people from all sorts of backgrounds and interests. In a few words... Now I teach Spanish and I love every second of it.

This blog will be part of that creativity put into action. Expect tips to learn Spanish better, cultural information, my experiences as bilingual, migrant and Spanish tutor, and who knows what else I’ll write about while this space evolves. 

Well, thanks to International House for giving us this assignment and force me to take a plunge I already wanted to take a while ago :). And thank YOU for reading me!

Until next post,

Mónica