http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mp ... es/3325510

Aug. 27, 2005, 8:48PM



Learning the language
Living in Houston provides opportunities to learn and practice Spanish
By EILEEN McCLELLAND
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The conversation at Taco Milagro on a recent Monday night is eclectic, for sure. Rambling, probably. Maybe even a little bit odd.

Rafael Zambrana begins a discussion about selling property in Mexico City. Then he talks about a crippling case of food poisoning. And finally he starts a lengthy discourse about what it would take to make Houston more attractive to tourists.

Some of his audience hangs on his every word.

Others seem completely baffled.

Down the table from him, someone is talking about cats.

What do these people have in common?

They're all practicing their Spanish.

Chuck Linton brings a collection of tiny flags representing Spanish-speaking countries to Taco Milagro every Monday and looks for a table far from the lively bar on which to plant them.

He also brings a free education.

Linton, president and "Rock of Gibralter" of La Mesa Española, leads a weekly Spanish grammar class, reading from a book from the series Practice Makes Perfect. After class, more members show up - sometimes dozens - for two hours of freewheeling conversation on the patio over chips, salsa and iced tea.

Among the small groups that form, conversational prowess varies and topics veer wildly based on interests and abilities.

Linton has brought a printout of a complicated article published in the Spanish newspaper El Pais, about fashion and makeup, hoping a native speaker can decipher its nuances. Although he is an advanced speaker, some of the vocabulary is tricky: Metrosexual, for example.

Meanwhile, Zambrana, a native of Mexico, doesn't mind stopping to repeat himself to those beginners he may have left behind.

"I enjoy meeting people," he says. "Coming here is a way to make friends, and because I speak English as a second language, it's a good way to learn to speak English better. It's a give and take."

Beginners tend to form their own conversational clusters and focus on simpler topics, such as "Where are you from?" or "Where do you work?" or "How many cats do you have?"

Kimberly Green, an administrator with HISD, wants to improve her conversational skills. Green, who spent a summer studying the language in Spain, believes being bilingual would benefit her career as well as make future travel more fun.

"I want to be able to converse with people without having to think so much about it," she said. "My mother told me when I was in seventh grade that I should learn Spanish, especially living in Texas. At the time I wanted to learn German."


Practice, practice
Think you'll have to spend thousands of dollars and move to Mexico City or Madrid to truly learn Spanish?

If you've got the time and money for a sabbatical, that's one way to go. But experts say unless you practice every day when you return, most of your hard-won knowledge will slip away.

Fortunately, living in Houston provides everyday opportunities to learn and practice the language, ranging from a weekend immersion class to a visit to a Spanish-language movie theater. Many activities are free, or nearly so.

It's also a great way for second- and third-generation children of Spanish-speaking parents to maintain or improve their skill.

"If you are willing to pay the price to go to a language school abroad, then you're going to get the whole experience," says Elvia Taylor, owner and director of Crossing Borders language school in The Woodlands. "But if you can't, then just stay here and everywhere you go you can have a teacher."

Gena Scurry, president of Speak Spanish! Inc., a school better known as spanishovercoffee.com, says the idea of needing to devise a plan to speak Spanish in Houston is "ridiculous." She has a point. The Hispanic population jumped from 27.1 percent of residents in 1990 to 37.4 percent in 2000, making it the largest ethnic group in Houston. The American Community Survey estimates the Hispanic population in Houston reached 40.1 percent in 2003.

"If you walked into a coffee shop anywhere in Houston and said hablas español?, I'd be surprised if someone didn't speak Spanish," Scurry says.

Taylor agrees that beginners shouldn't hesitate to plunge into rudimentary Spanish at every opportunity.

"Don't be afraid of going to any Hispanic business and instead of saying it in English try saying it in Spanish," Taylor says. "They'll appreciate it and they'll give you better service. They'll be happy to help you out because you'll be talking to them in their native language."


Don't sweat tenses

Patricia Coronado, director of 1st Academy of Languages, works with Leisure Learning to offer a "Guadalajara in Houston" immersion weekend in which students speak and hear only Spanish. They will begin to think they are in Mexico, Coronado promises. The intensity of this onslaught breaks down the brain's resistance and students find themselves thinking in Spanish. In addition, knowledge of culture and body language that comes from interactions with Spanish-speakers accelerates learning.

And don't sweat the verb tenses. That can come later.

"Don't ever feel self-conscious about not saying the perfect word," Coronado says. "It is a very nice gesture for you to try. A lot of Americans take for granted that wherever they go in the world, people will speak English. Just say a word of Spanish to the people you see in the elevator and they will be delighted."

Crossing Borders eases students into such encounters by scheduling field trips to markets, bakeries and restaurants. Taylor alerts managers or waiters in advance, encourages them to ask the students complex questions and thanks them with an extra tip. These exchanges bolster confidence.

Crossing Borders also offers one-stop language shopping in the form of dance lessons and cooking classes in Spanish.

But you don't have to stick to a language school to practice. Instructors at the Rodriguez Dance Academy and other dance schools teach flamenco and Mexican folklorico classes in Spanish, sometimes to students who are far from fluent.

"A teacher in the folklorico class is from Mexico City, and people are learning to speak the language very well," Rogelio Rodriguez says. "Just by seeing the movement and hearing the words, they associate one with the other. It's like diving into the pool. You either swim or sink."

Informal gatherings are another option.

Henry Weissborn, organizer of the largest Spanish Internet Meetup.com group in Houston, studied the language at Houston Community College and Rice University. Now he is passionate about his primary hobby â€â€