The first time I had to use Spanish outside of the classroom was at my retail job. I was about 15 years old, and I went into it thinking that I had it handled.Then I failed spectacularly. While I could (more or less) understand what she was saying, I was way too nervous to respond back, and resorted to using Google translate to complete the transaction. I just froze up, despite having all this practice in class with Sr. Cavo. Have you all had to use the language outside of the classroom before? Did speaking with someone other than your classmates 'unlock' the language for you?
Personally, things didn't click well for me. I could make it though casual conversation, music, readings, and podcasts, but I always struggled to find my words while speaking with a native speaker. That was until the legend of Juan Sin Miedo. Often shortened to just "Sin Miedo," it was far from the first Spanish motto or metaphor that I'd heard -- but it was one of the first that truly stuck. This motto never came up in any of my Spanish classes at FP, but whenever I find myself in the María Zambrono library at the UCM campus, someone compliments the sticker I have of it.
