Joseph's Republic

My experience in self-studying English (back in first year high school) serves as a mental yardstick today in studying Spanish. I was then able to break the barrier from functional illiteracy to active comprehension by a mere three months or so of intensive immersion. (Of course my exposure to Sesame Street English was a plus factor). What worked especially well for me was my translating English articles into Tagalog, and my maniacal deciphering of English text (of science-related reading materials) into an even more basic English.

Tagalog constructions can generally be made to follow English syntax. With a minimum of conjugational intricacies, the mystery of the English language soon enough was made plain to me. I was not sure if the same is true for me with Spanish. But with plenty of materials at the bookstore and over the Internet for my Spanish studies, I am now realizing that the language is just as easy if not easier.

My mother tongue, Tagalog, has been steadily hispanized for more than three centuries of Castilian conquest of the Philippines. Although it remains most distinctly Autronesian in sound and grammar, modern Tagalog’s lexicon has become latinized with about fifty percent direct borrowings from Castilian and a steady stream of indirect contemporary Latin borrowings through English. This means that, para mi, a study of Spanish lexicon is not a big burden.

Additionally Spanish pronunciation is so much easier than English because it almost feels like Tagalog. Now I understand why Spanish is not at all considered as a foreign language by Filipino academics.

Now my bigger struggle is retaining what I’ve learned. With my memory gap growing strong by the day, I might actually forget English after mastering Spanish. But that may not necessarily be too bad. Who knows it just night permanently cure me of mental fatigue and memory loss all in one sway.