I Think I Can, I Think I Can

The other day in a bout of laziness, I threw my headphones on as I left for a run.  But something felt fundamentally different than when iListen in the States. After a few minutes of listening to Alan Jackson sing about cornbread and chicken, I realized what was different -- I was thinking in English. And here, when I go running, I normally think in Spanish.

I've heard that the way you can tell if you are fluent in a language is if you think in that language. So I always give myself a mental fist pound when I catch myself making observations or giving myself directions in Spanish.  And I overwhelmingly notice this happening the most when I go on runs solo.

I attribute this to the fact that when I set out on a run by myself, it is the one time that I completely and totally immerse myself in all things Spanish. I have no English-speaking friends or wordreference.com at my fingertips. It's just me and the Spanish gente darting around the calles and parques. I read signs, eavesdrop, and consequently muse to myself totalmente en español.

It takes self-discipline to consistently think in Spanish. But between reading Spanish novels for classes and making new Spanish friends, I'm gradually working on upping my mental time in español. It's actually really fun to think in another language... and hopefully this means I'm getting closer to tener la fluidez!