Poco a poco

A work in progress

Signs that my Spanish is coming along nicely:

• Looking for a new flatmate this past week has involved more speaking Spanish on the phone than I've probably done in all my time in Spain, and I have to say I'm quite proud of myself. For the most part I understand and can be understood. Try conversing in a foreign language without using gestures, body language, or facial expressions. It's harder than it sounds.
• I had to go talk to the director of my bank, and he remembered me from when I opened the account in October. After I explained what I needed he said with a smile on his face, "¡Tú hablas mejor!"

Sign that I still have light years to go:

• When telling the bank director my phone number I said otro instead of ocho. I learned numbers in Spanish about ten years ago and could recite them in my sleep (probably did) not long after, but caught up in conversation that's what came spilling out of my mouth. This was, of course, after he commented on my improvement.

You win some, you lose some. All the more reason for me to come back to Spain a second year.