[vita32]

Originally Posted by NoH

I live and work in Spain.I am 37-and an English teacher!I have been here one year and my Spanish learning has just STOPPED.I can do all the basics but I seem to have hit a plateau.I have a "friend" with whom I do an exchange every week,but his English is much better than my Spanish so it's boring for him-I need any ideas,tips,suggestions-and experiences,as I am starting to feel really alone in this!I think a lot of this is due to my age-what do you think?I already share a house with Spanish people,but it even seems as if my comprehension has gone down!What's happening!?
Regards and good luck!

Are you comfortable with the people you are living with in the same house and the person whom you are communicating with in Spanish? What makes me wonder are your statetements in which you said, your Spanish learning just stopped and as if your comprehension has gone down. I'm not a psychologist or anyone like that but based on what you said, you might be undergoing some kind of "culture shock" (in your case, it is delayed since you've been in Spain for a year). If so this might be interfering with your learning. I have experienced culture shock so I know something about how it feels to be like an outsider in a culture that is not familiar. Feeling like an outsider is in itself a barrier to wanting to communicate. What is bad about a culture shock is that one assumes lots of things that may not be accurate or true. What I can say in addition to the good advice that had been given is to force yourself to communicate more in Spanish as much as you can and get to know and be really interested in the people and its culture and admire its being different from the culture that you left behind and that you are now missing. Culture shock is discussed somewhere in this forum also. I just don't remember exactly which thread it was in. If this is not the case then forgive my ramblings. Good luck and I hope you come out of the "plateau".