Spanish: A Love Affair

Three Years Of Learning Spanish: The Poems, Art, Movies And Gael García Bernal

February being the romance month, I thought it would be a great time to share my story with the Spanish language. Spanish is the first foreign language I ever started to learn. It was around 2019 I got interested in studying Spanish because of the movie called ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’[2011](ZNMD). It is one of my favourite movies of all time. Enrique Iglesias was the first artist who introduced me to this beautiful language and got me hooked on it. But with ZNMD, I got interested in knowing more about Spanish Culture and the language itself.

Being A Lost Beginner:

As an ignorant beginner, I had no idea about different Spanish speaking countries, various accents, the benefit of learning it, grammar rules, or anything at all. Yeah, I know the easy thing would’ve been to google about Spanish so I did, and got recommended to download Duolingo. I downloaded Duolingo and practised every single day but I got bored after a while because I realized I wasn’t able to speak Spanish at all. It hurt my motivation to learn Spanish. I stopped learning Spanish for a while because I lost my motivation and didn’t know what to do.

Overcoming The Lack Of Motivation:

During this break from learning Spanish in an academic format, I thought it would be a great idea to check out if there are any movies available in Spanish on YouTube and I struck gold. I fell in love with Mexican cinema. The beauty of Mexican cinema opened a brand new world to me as a cinephile it made me genuinely excited to watch more movies from Mexico. This led to the development of my interest in Mexico and Mexican culture.

Magic Of YouTube Algorithm:

Learning about Mexico made me an avid learner of Spanish again. I found a brilliant YouTube Channel known by the name of Butterfly Spanish, her videos helped me a lot as a lost Spanish learner. It got me back on track to start learning Spanish in systematic ways. Mexican culture, tradition, and the rich culture of artists connected with me on an emotional level. It influenced me as a person who didn’t know much about Spanish and its rich diversity. It all began with Spanish from Spain and I ended up loving Spanish from Mexico.

Telenovelas Are Crazy Fun To Watch:

YouTube started to work its magic around 2020 since the whole world was under lockdown, I got to learn more languages at a time. I became serious about Spanish and watched a lot more content in Spanish. I saw a bunch of Telenovelas and it turns out they are not far from Indian Teleseries. I found them fun and wacky at the same time. Yet I do have a special place for Cuidado con el ángel, it is my favourite telenovela.

Getting Introduced To Poets:

Watching a lot of videos in Spanish introduced me to great poets like Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Octavio Paz, and many others. I have a lot more to know and learn but I feel like I have built a good foundation. I want to read more and explore as much as I can.

Simping Over Gael García Bernal:

One of the most important people that got me into learning Spanish and about Mexico is Gael García Bernal. The first-ever movie I saw in Spanish was ‘Diarios de motocicleta’ and never in my life, I had been blown away by an artist from a foreign land. After this masterpiece, I saw almost everything that starred him, what can I say I became an admirer of his craft and his brilliance on screen. Y tu mamá también, Fidel, Coco, Amores Perros, Mozart in the jungle(series) and many more made me a forever fan. I am aware of the fact that there are a lot more great artists but for me it is him.

Entertainment, Art And Playing Around With Learning Methods:

Oh! We are almost at the end of this blog I promise. I found my motivation with Butterfly Spanish, kept going for the love of poems and artists like Frida Kahlo, and still going on because of the excellent movies and a desire to meet Mr.Bernal one day. Music oh yeah, how can I leave the sound of Latin America out of the list from Selena Quintanilla, Reik, Maluma, Ricky Martin to currently Sofía Reyes. Collectively there are many things and people who unknowingly helped me learn a language that is completely foreign to me. I want to travel to Latin American countries and connect with the locals. I am truly grateful to the age of technology and YouTube, my favourite teacher.

Thank you for reading and keep learning. Share your language learning story with us.

Gracias por leer y sigue aprendiendo. Siéntase libre de compartir la historia de su viaje de aprendizaje de idiomas con nosotros.

¡Hasta luego!

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