I have had a fairly rich relationship with foreign languages in my life. My first language was Spanish. At home I speak Spanish with my parents and grandparents, who are of Cuban descent. Also, throughout the city of Miami, there is an enormous Hispanic/Latino influence. One can be found casually speaking Spanish with almost anyone in the city, as it is the language of choice for a significant part of the population. Spanish has been an important part of my life, I truly enjoy communicating with others in my native language. Unfortunately, my spanish has worsened over the years as I speak mostly English with friends. One of my goals at Dartmouth is to improve my Spanish.
At Dartmouth, I also hope to learn some other languages. This past spring I took French 1. I would like to continue my study in French, in order to participate in the French LSA next spring . I found learning a new language to be both difficult and rewarding. Throughout the term I participated in several events hosted by the French club, and sat in at the French table at FOCO. This year, I also want to take classes in Portuguese. The language is pretty similar to Spanish, so I am hoping that it will be easy to pick up.
Although I am not attending the CCESP, I would like to improve my fluency in Spanish, and gain a better fluency and understanding of other foreign languages for any future travels.