Lessons Learned in Hindsight

My first and native language was Spanish; presently I would say my first language is English with Spanish remaining as my native language. I say this because the Spanish language belonged to me from birth. I did not have to “acquire” a Puerto Rican accent, it just happened. Furthermore, I can not even recall learning Spanish, in my memories it was a natural process, something that just happened and my memories associated with it are joyous ones of my conversations with my grandmother. My memories of learning English are barely more detailed. I know I learned English when I began schooling, I was young, and it came easily to me. In a sense the process of learning a language was foreign to me although have learned two. It was not until I went to study abroad in Barcelona and attempted to learn Catalan that I began to understand the difficulties in learning a new language when it surrounds you. I remember constantly speaking Spanish because almost everyone knew it but getting a push back from my host mother about breaking out of my convert zone and learning Catalan because it was the language of Barcelona. I will always remember this experience because it forced me to confront issues that pertain to language. The need vs. want  or willingness to learn the language of the place you are,  what do you lose and gain from it, and the difficult process of learning a new language later on in life are all things I pay more attention to now.