Welcome to Spanish to the can podcasts. Today with a new topic dedicated to learning foreign languages ​​in general, and learning the Spanish language in particular.

This podcast is a commentary on the video by Canadian polyglot Steve Kaufmann on the pleasure of learning languages. I would like to begin by commenting on this discussion by Mr. Steve Kaufmann, evoking a thought by F. Nietzsche about the knowledge of a foreign language. When he said that true pleasure belongs to those who know it half and not to those who dominate it. Something very valid to support Steve's reflection on fear of error. That I personally believe is the origin of the great cultural defect of the traditional educational system.

Error is something that accompanies us in all the activities of our lives. He is our closest friend because he lives with us, and he is the most faithful because he never abandons us. And in the long run it is our best ally when it comes to learning something, because learning is a dialectical process of trial and error. Perfection does not exist, least of all at the beginning of a process. Not surprisingly, the Italian polyglot Luca Lampariello says that "language learning is the art of imperfection."

I started my language learning process when I was in university, simultaneously enrolling in German, French, Italian and Russian courses. However, the result was the same as always when you are in the educational system: at the end of three or four semesters you can barely articulate a few words when you try to converse in that language. The reason: the agents of the system, in this case, the teachers, putting you in fear of error.

I made the qualitative leap when I lost my fear of error and started working with it; that is, to learn from it. In fact, the best strategy is to deliberately make mistakes in front of a native, as long as you already have enough vocabulary to communicate. Why?

Generally you are afraid of being corrected; or better, you are ashamed. you fear ridicule, to show your limitations and your ignorance. You easily forget that this is not your mother tongue, but your interlocutor knows it well and understands you. Just imagine arriving as a tourist or backpacker in the city of Ulaanbaatar, speaking in a survival Mongol, with the words piled up without coherent syntax.

Do you think that citizen you are going to speak to ask the time, where is the bus terminal, where to find a hostel at a comfortable price, where to eat with a couple of dollars, is going to laugh at you, or as relentless Language teacher is going to put a horrible reprobate in red ink in his notebook of silly foreigners?

Remember this famous quote by Nelson Mandela:

"If you speak to someone in a language they understand, you come to their mind; if you speak to them in their mother tongue, you reach their heart". Now imagine her surprised face when listening to a Colombian speaking in a rudimentary Mongolian, imagine his curious face, his kind smile and her clear disposition to help you communicate in his language. Sure, there are cases in wich, the worst thing that can happen to you is to meet an individual in bad mood, a xenophobe or a fascist. The truth, you are going to have problems; but not because you don't speak correctly, but because your attitude of rejection is a reflection of your mentality. Find yourself another interlocutor!

This was a Español a la lata podcast. Practice your Spanish listening to our podcasts.

Until a next opportunity.