Well, okay, so you're right again, talking about Spain and things Spanish is at the core of my being.

Betcha I taught longer than you did! Taught one year in 1968(yes, oh, webmaster, before you were born) than there was a long hiatus while I raised the kids. Put in 13 years of really hard time at a school where "the smart kids took French" and "the dumber kids took Spanish,because if migrant workers speak it, it must be easy". GET THE PICTURE?? I fought monumental ignorance for as long as I could stand it, then accepted a buyout when total school enrollment dropped, and said "besAD mi c--o" feeling no need to be polite at that moment. Three weeks before the next school year started, my husband's school needed me: their Spanish teacher married and left. I taught for two more years, rather pleasantly, too, but decided it was not my gift.

I'm still a linguist, though, and will be happy to help anybody who really wants to learn(as opposed to kids who think they have to "take" it to get into college!)

I think I'm approaching curmudgeonhood.

So, any tips on getting an English-teaching job over there, Jer? Or, just in case "Cocina Brava" doesn't work out, maybe I could be a private chef, nanny and English tutor all rolled into one.

hi all, being an ex-spanish teacher who still loves to share what he knows about the language with the world (what is knowledge if it is not imparted), i would like to offer myself as a ling�istic support for when you have doubts about the lanuage and it's uses (even slang). so don't be shy, ask (for what is a question if it is not asked) and i (as well as sue and i am sure other spanish teachers and ex-teachers) will do the best we can to help out. my experience you ask? well, one year of hight school and 3 2 years as an assistant professor (i have also lived here in madrid for 5 years which has fine tuned my tongue).
�viva el espa�ol!
jer...

I am a novice to the Spanish language, but wanted to learn a bit before going there this fall (geez, that 2 years in high school 20+ years ago if failing me now!!). I want to let you know that your sponsor -elemadrid- is awesome!! I checked out their sample word of the month and then signed up. The free stuff was like a book!! So I am going to order some of their software right now!!

the whole stereotype of Spanish being easy is soooo irritating.

By the way, sue, the link to your web page doesn't work. You might want to check it.

Thanks Toni, I let =elemadrid= know about your comments, they are glad to get feedback like that and the truth is it is a great school and their website offers a lot to those interested in learning Spanish. Good luck with it all.
Hi Marie, I totally agree with you. It is all relative and "easier" is a better word than "easy". It all depends on many factors such as at what age one begins their second language acquisition, how predisposed they are to learn easily another language, what their native tongue is compared to the L2 (target language), how motivated they are, etc... I began learning Spanish at 12 years old and fell in love with it, I was very motivated and it came easily to me. On the other hand, when I tried to learn Fench or German I failed miserably, basically due to a lack of motivation and interest in those languages. As for ease of learning, not as easy as some might say, it depends on who you are and the environment you grow up in. Sometimes I think it is in the genes! Also, it is "easier" for native speakers of some languages to pick up others, for example, a native Spaniard can learn Italian more easily than he or she can pick up Japanese because Spanish and Italina are both Romance Languages.
Take care and stick with it,
jer...

p.s. Marie, sorry about that problem with Sue's homepage, she asked me to remove it last week but I forgot so it was my fault since there is no longer a site up at that address. I have removed it this time Sue.
jer...

Hi Jer - I agree with you completely especieally on the importance of MOTIVATION!
I see this everyday at my school of Spanish for Adults. The ones who really do well are the ones with the greatest motivation. They all come in after a day's work to get their spanish lesson. All say the same thing- It's though after work, I'm so tired and walking to the lesson I ask myself but am I crazy or what, instead of heading home for my couch and cup of cocoa, I venture head on into a two-hour spanish session, but when we've all said our hellos and the session begins , I suddenly forget I'm so tired and find myself actually enjoying it so much that when time's over I almost wish we could go on, longer. Our students say they actually relax after a day's work - secret .....motivation. I get couples married, with kids and not, coming in together to do something different together,adults of all ages their aim is to learn something new, something fun , something different - secret ....motivation.
They come because THEY WANT TO nobody makes them do it. They love what they're doing so they learn. and one last thing - Spain/Spanish is an incurable bug...once it gets you you never recover!