My daughter and I are taking Spanish classes together. Why? Many reasons.
- We have a growing population of Spanish speaking people in our area a
nd we would love to have them as clients. Dave Liniger suggested such a wild idea at a Re/Max seminar Scott and I attended earlier this year. - My daughter is also studying French in school and cannot fit Spanish into her curriculum. But she really wants to learn Spanish. So we thought it would be fun and beneficial to take it together.
- We love to travel and love to learn.
- We have a great interest in other cultures (especially their food).
- We hate that language barriers exist.
- And although we believe that immigrants to the US should learn English (Scott's mom was a right off the boat German immigrant at age 14 and had to adapt quickly to the English language), we are open to learning other languages too.
Can I just say.... Learning a new language is INCREDIBLY difficult. Take for example:
Yo estoy casada - it means, "I am married."
Yo estoy cansada - it means, "I am tired."
One little N changes everything! You go from being married to tired.
But then if you say,
Yo estoy casado - it means "I am married," but also I am a male.
So one little O for an A changes my gender from female to male!
Richard Strahm wrote a blog the other day called, "I am not a bigot, but." In it, he talked about how some Realtors may not want to work with clients who have heavy accents or don't speak English well. Richard has done very well for himself taking care of these types of clients. He has gained their trust and loyalty, and as a result, they have referred him much more business.
So to reiterate from Richard's blog and my personal experience trying to learn a new language as an adult, have patience with those who don't speak English well. They may be working on it. I know for me, it will be a long long time if ever before I am fluent in Spanish. I may have to move to Mexico to do it!
I do know how to say, Mi gato esta perdido (My cat is lost). I don't know how handy that phrase will be but you never know.... The trick with becoming fluent is you need to know how to say EVERYTHING!
Buena suerte! ~Lisa
Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.
Casada y Cansada - Married & Tired - Learning a New Language Copyright © 2010, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.
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The Scott Loper Team
Scott Loper - Associate Broker
Lisa Loper - Sales Associate
Gina Wherry - Sales Associate
RE/MAX Realty Group
439 Main Street
Harleysville, PA 19438
Ph: 215-256-1200 x-213
Thanks for the shout out, Lisa! I can't wait to hear you and Kinya speaking Spanish in the office.
Lisa Loper es un maravilloso agente de bienes raíces. Me siento muy afortunado de trabajar con ella!
Thanks for the beautiful compliment. I think it says, Lisa Loper is a marvelous real estate agent. I feel very fortunate to work with her. Kinya has been coaching me a little. I think he finds my efforts to speak Spanish comical. My teacher's husband is Jacob Kratz with Kratz Real Estate. Small world.
I love it when others take interest in learning Spanish.....I agree with you: Everyone should learn to speak English....in the long run, they will be better off for it...but in the mean time, it's great that your daughter wants to learn Spanish....if “The Mountain” won't come to Mohamed....then “Mohamed” must go to the Mountain!