I don't read in Spanish that much anymore. That isn't the confession; the confession is that in the last 5 years, ever since I left my country, I haven't done much about it, even if deep down it bothers me.
I am not talking about books translated to Spanish; when given the opportunity I like to read the book in the original language, but alas, I can only read fluently in 3 languages and that limits how often I can actually do so. No, I am talking about books that were originally written in Spanish, independent of them being from Spain or Latin America. Yes there is a difference between books from either region, but we will get to that another time.
I could use the excuse that I moved to a country were Spanish is not the main language and because of that, most of the books I can get through the library (and boy, do I use the library here) are either in English or in French. But no, that's not the only reason, because as it turns out they DO have books in Spanish, I just don't actively look for them. I even know a bookstore that sells ONLY in Spanish, however, for now, on my student income, I can't afford most of these books, since they are quite more expensive that the English versions, and that also applies if I try websites like the Book Depository.
So after a while, I stopped reading books written in Spanish; I received some from my family, here and there, but last year only 3% (a.k.a 2 books) of my reading was done in Spanish. And this actually saddens me. I went back to Colombia for a couple of weeks recently, this time without my boyfriend fiancé, and so I was able to only speak in Spanish for 2 weeks and this made me realize how much I miss it. Not just that I really like my language, mind you I will give you all the arguments I have on how Spanish is a beautiful and easy to learn language; no, I miss it because I learned how to read in Spanish, because there are a bunch of expressions that are impossible to translate but when I see them they make me smile. But most of all, and I realize this might sound lazy, I miss it because of how simple it is for my brain to follow, even when I am exhausted, to read in Spanish. It's easier to engage with the plot; easier to retain the information, even when my brain decides to remember right then that I have to buy butter tomorrow; easier to remember tiny details.
And after telling you this, you are going to ask me: how come you haven't tried harder? Whilst I have no answer to this question, other than I don't know I can tell you that I am committed to changing that. Right now
I am not talking about books translated to Spanish; when given the opportunity I like to read the book in the original language, but alas, I can only read fluently in 3 languages and that limits how often I can actually do so. No, I am talking about books that were originally written in Spanish, independent of them being from Spain or Latin America. Yes there is a difference between books from either region, but we will get to that another time.
I could use the excuse that I moved to a country were Spanish is not the main language and because of that, most of the books I can get through the library (and boy, do I use the library here) are either in English or in French. But no, that's not the only reason, because as it turns out they DO have books in Spanish, I just don't actively look for them. I even know a bookstore that sells ONLY in Spanish, however, for now, on my student income, I can't afford most of these books, since they are quite more expensive that the English versions, and that also applies if I try websites like the Book Depository.
So after a while, I stopped reading books written in Spanish; I received some from my family, here and there, but last year only 3% (a.k.a 2 books) of my reading was done in Spanish. And this actually saddens me. I went back to Colombia for a couple of weeks recently, this time without my boyfriend fiancé, and so I was able to only speak in Spanish for 2 weeks and this made me realize how much I miss it. Not just that I really like my language, mind you I will give you all the arguments I have on how Spanish is a beautiful and easy to learn language; no, I miss it because I learned how to read in Spanish, because there are a bunch of expressions that are impossible to translate but when I see them they make me smile. But most of all, and I realize this might sound lazy, I miss it because of how simple it is for my brain to follow, even when I am exhausted, to read in Spanish. It's easier to engage with the plot; easier to retain the information, even when my brain decides to remember right then that I have to buy butter tomorrow; easier to remember tiny details.
And after telling you this, you are going to ask me: how come you haven't tried harder? Whilst I have no answer to this question, other than I don't know I can tell you that I am committed to changing that. Right now
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