Cold weather’s here, and my living room doors won’t close properly. There’s a nice, crisp breeze blowing through the house. Ice is forming on the inside of my windows. And last week, we already had an early, light snow! Something’s got to give.
So this holiday week, workers came to install new doors (ones that actually close). Happy, happy Thanksgiving!
Midway through the installation, one of the workers leaned into the kitchen (where I was busily chopping vegetables for gumbo*) and asked if he could use the bathroom. I answered without thinking. Yeah, sure!
He walked off and it hit me: he’d asked me in Spanish. And it had made perfect sense to me! The first time around!
I had to step away from the cutting board for a moment to take it all in.
I didn’t even remember the actual words he used. I just got it. I actually heard, “OK if I use your bathroom?” No mental check of grammar rules, vocabulary, proper slang. I just glanced up and said, “Yes!” to a simple request. [I do have to confess I answered in English by default. Baby steps.]
I’ve noticed something similar happening as I watch Netflix movies with Spanish audio and English subtitles as a backup. At times I think, “Wait—did they just say that in English?” and have to back up. (Because sometimes they do switch to English for a line or two, I’m thinking to be sarcastic.)
But there really do seem to be some phrases where I’m starting to hear the meanings —not the language. My brain says, “That must’ve been English, because you understood it!” But, no.
So there is hope for us language learners. Sometimes it seems impossible to learn so much stuff. And if we had to remember all the rules at once, it would be impossible. But at some point, we start to process the new language the way we process our native language. We don’t run through years of grammar lessons or do a self-check on what verb tense we’re using. We just hear what’s said.
OK if I use your bathroom? Yes!
*Gumbo is una sopa exquisita from Louisiana, a state in the U.S. It starts with a dark roux, and adds chicken or shellfish, okra, cayenne pepper, a specially seasoned sausage called andouille, spices, celery, bell peppers and onions, and sometimes ham. It slow cooks for 1-3 hours and tastes best served the next day, with rice. It’s our traditional family holiday meal.