“Learning Spanish has brought new ideas, but more importantly, new people to my life” #BaseLangStories

Christie first decided to learn Spanish as a project to keep her brain active. Now that she’s become conversational through regular lessons on BaseLang, the language has taken on whole new dimensions: bridging cultures, facilitating new ways of thinking, and creating a new pastime. Let’s hear her story.

BaseLangStories series puts the spotlight on BaseLang students – asking them about their motivations for learning a foreign language, what impact learning Spanish has had on their lives, advice they have for fellow students, and more.

1. What’s your name and where you are from?

Hola! My name is Christie Simmons and I’m from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

2. Why did you want to learn Spanish?

I never expected to learn Spanish, or any other language for that matter. I grew up in a bilingual French/English country but really, in Alberta, where I live, you don’t need French. And quite honestly, in all my travels around the world, English has served me very well. Plus, what French classes I did have were terribly boring! So, when it’s unnecessary and painful, why would I bother trying to learn another language? Nope, that was something other people did, not me.

When I say language learning is something other people do, I include my husband. He started learning Spanish a few years before I did. For the last number of years his work has primarily been in Mexico so he has had both the need and motivation to learn Spanish. I admired his efforts, but Spanish was his thing, not mine.

Then, a couple of years ago I decided my aging brain needed more exercise and investigated ‘brain games’. It turns out I absolutely HATE brain games! For me they’re decidedly unfun and doing them feels like a total waste of time. If I was serious about exercising my brain, I determined I needed to accomplish something. I had read that learning another language is good for keeping the brain agile. So, I thought, why not join Rob in learning some Spanish?

I got going with Duolingo and from the day I downloaded that app, I haven’t looked back. Pretty much every day since then I have taken some time to study Spanish. One of the most interesting and curious parts of my language learning experience is that I’m oddly motivated. I don’t need to learn Spanish, but I really want to learn it. I’m not sure where the determination comes from, but I have decided I am going to learn Spanish.

3. In the past, what did you use to learn Spanish?

I started learning Spanish with Duolingo. I quite liked it and was very consistent, but it quickly became obvious that if I really wanted to learn Spanish I needed something more.

4. Before BaseLang, which part of learning Spanish did you struggle with the most?

Before I started with BaseLang, I noticed that I did 99% of my studying in total silence. I heard words, and the app I was using occasionally required verbal responses. But most of the time it didn’t accurately register what I’d said and so considered my answers incorrect, which was frustrating. I started to see that while I possibly might learn to read and understand some spoken Spanish, I would NEVER be able to speak it. And that, in my opinion, wasn’t the point!

5. What obstacle would have prevented you from signing up for BaseLang before?

I think the only thing that prevented me from signing up with BaseLang is that I didn’t know about it. And once I did know about it, with the huge jump in price, I had to be sure I was able to and wanted to fully commit. Not long after I started Duolingo I thought in-person learning would be the way to go and signed up for an entry-level university class. But by the time I was accepted, we were in the throes of a pandemic and it wasn’t going to be in person anyhow.

Plus, I realized one university course was almost the same price as a couple of months or more of BaseLang classes.

6. What did you find as a result of signing up?

I realized that I had to start from scratch. I had some vocabulary but came to understand what a huge undertaking I was confronting! Language-teaching platforms and programs offer so many promises about becoming fluent in months or being conversational in weeks and say things like 10 minutes a day is all you need. Quite honestly, I thought if I gave Spanish time, energy and consistent attention, I would be fluent, mas o menos, in a year. HAHAHAHA!

OK, for sure in a year I could express a some ideas and understand a good whack of information, but fluent? No. I’m glad I’m not older than I am starting this adventure because I now realize I’m going to need a lot of years!

As a writer, I fully appreciate that as a tool of expression, language isn’t something you perfect. I’ve never held illusions of perfection in my use of English, and I certainly don’t have such ambitions where Spanish is concerned. But I do appreciate it’s going to take time until I can express myself in with confidence and in a manner that genuinely reflects who I am. It’s going to take some time for me to find my Spanish voice.

7. What specific feature did you like the most about the Real World program?

I LOVE how flexible it is, that you can book anytime, cancel if you need to, and that the classes are unlimited. So, if you have lots of time you can do what fits your time and your desires. I also really love meeting the many, many teachers BaseLang has and having a connection with people in other parts of the world.

I’m still impressed with the technology that makes it possible for me to look out on a frozen lake on a -30° morning in January while I talk to someone in Venezuela who is experiencing an afternoon in the 32-degree heat of another tropical day. I love hearing about and imagining what’s outside my professors’ windows and filling the streets that surround them.

I have had the opportunity to travel a good part of the world but have seen very little of Latin America. My experience with BaseLang has given me a lovely view into that world. I hope to visit, perhaps live in a Spanish-speaking country where I can touch and taste and immerse myself in the culture. But for now, BaseLang has provided a delightfully satisfying alternative to immersion.

8. How has learning Spanish impacted your life?

Learning Spanish has brought new ideas, but more importantly, new people to my life. I have established some very meaningful connections with professors and others who I am very certain I NEVER would have encountered had I not been learning Spanish. I am learning of the victories and the challenges, the dreams and delights of people who are nowhere near my age and are culturally different. It has been such a rich experience because while I haven’t yet had the opportunity to travel to countries like Colombia or Venezuela, becoming friends with people from these places has made me more aware, more curious.

My efforts to learn Spanish have also made me view my own world with more curiosity. Really, what is it like going through days when there’s nearly 19 hours of dark? How might I describe the sensation of skiing down a snowy mountain on a brilliantly sunny -20 degree day in January? What is it about the December light and those insanely long December shadows that brings me to my knees?

Learning Spanish has cracked open my heart to people and countries I never thought much about before and has pushed me to live a more vivid, attentive life.

9. Would you recommend this course, if so, why?

Not only would I recommend this course, I have recommended it.

Learning a language is – at least in my experience – a significant challenge. A program that’s as flexible as BaseLang allows people to dive in whenever and however they can. If a week goes by when you don’t have much time for Spanish, nothing of consequence is lost. It’s not like the class has gone on and left you behind and you’re going to struggle to catch up. And when you have time and inspiration, you can dive in with fervor. If you have a discouraging class with one teacher or you didn’t connect, there are many, many others to choose from. If mornings worked last week, but not this week, there are teachers available long before you get up and probably long after you go to bed. With BaseLang, there really are no excuses to NOT study.

10. Complete the following sentence “After my first month of BaseLang, I realized that…”

…learning Spanish is not a project for this year or this month, it’s for this lifetime, and that learning a language is a humbling process that requires patience, openness, a hearty sense of humour and a full willingness to not take yourself too seriously!

11. Anything else to add?

Probably I would just want to encourage people that are on the older end of the learning spectrum to just go for it. You don’t have to be young to learn. We old farts might be slower, but when no one expects much of you, it’s probably a little easier to be fearless and I can’t help thinking that must help with the learning process!