We continue to introduce the inspiring stories of our members who are working hard to become conversational in Spanish.  This is a wonderful opportunity for us not only to share all the great projects that people who speak Spanish are working on but also to show how proud we are of our members. You have to devote many hours to learning a new skill and learning a second language is no exception. We admire so much our member’s commitment and dedication to learning Spanish. They work hard every week to improve their ability to speak Spanish so that they can build relationships with people of other cultures and make good things happen in the world. Felicitaciones!

Gracias Karen por compartir tu historia con nosotros! Estamos tan contentos de tener la oportunidad de ayudarte con tu español y ser parte de tu hermosa aventura!

What do you like the most about learning Spanish?

I love meeting new people and learning about other cultures.

Can you describe what you remember about your first contact with Spanish? Was it at school, traveling, or friends? How did you feel about being in situations where you had to be around people from other cultures?

My first contact with Spanish was in high school. I took Spanish for about three years. My grandparents were immigrants from Sweden, so I was used to being around people from another culture who spoke a foreign language. I have always taken great pride in my Swedish heritage and only wish that I had learned to speak the language. Unfortunately, my grandparents only spoke English to us and spoke Swedish only when they didn’t want us to know what they were talking about!

What does your Spanish learning routine look like? How many days/hours a week, times of the day, favorite rituals?

I study Spanish just about every day. I have many, many Kindle books on my smartphone and also use the Rosetta Stone app. I listen to the local Mexican radio station and watch videos and TV shows in Spanish. I have some Spanish-speaking friends that I converse with and also text with. Of course, I try to attend as many meetups as possible! I follow Spanish news pages on Facebook. I have also very recently completed two online Spanish courses through the community college and I am almost done with the third in the series. I use a very multi-faceted approach in order to immerse myself in the language as much as possible throughout the course of each day.

What do you like most about our Mokovi platform? Do you have a favorite type of video or activity?

My favorite activity through the program is the meetups. I love meeting new people and conversing with them in a relaxed, non-judgmental environment.

What are some of your favorite learning resources? Feel free to include textbooks, apps, websites, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.

I like to read American English novels that have been translated into Spanish. I mostly find these on Amazon.com

What do you think is the most difficult thing for you when learning Spanish? Do you have any strategies that you have used to overcome this particular obstacle?

The most difficult thing is to conquer my nervousness and intimidation of speaking Spanish to native speakers. The meetups help with this a lot. I have found that once you just take the leap, it becomes easier and easier.

In a perfect world, after you get to the level of Spanish that you think is good for you, what would you be doing with your Spanish skills? We love (and support!) big dreamers, so feel free to go into as much detail as you want!

My dream is to become a certified medical interpreter. The community college offers a 3-course series for this and I would love to be able to do that. I feel that I would need to become very fluent in order to reach that level. I would also like to travel to Mexico and to other Spanish-speaking countries and perhaps have a vacation home in one of the beautiful places and go there for months at a time when I am retired!

If tomorrow you find out that you are the lucky winner of a one-month trip (all expenses paid, of course!) to a Spanish-speaking country, where would you go and how would you spend your time there?

One of my friends is in Spain right now and she is posting lots of pictures on Facebook of her trip. I think I would like to go there, be a typical tourist, and see everything I could see! I would also like to go to Mexico and live with a Mexican family and experience day-to-day life with them.

Is there anything else that you would like to add that we didn’t ask?

My son-in-law is Mexican and because of him and his family, my family has learned a lot about Mexican culture, especially about Mexican food! We have learned to cook a lot of Mexican dishes. My daughter and my grandchildren attend many Mexican fiestas and family gatherings and experience a whole new insight into the world. I think it is important for all people, and especially children, to learn that there is so much more to life beyond their front door!