Judi: Do you speak Spanish?

One question I was often asked before moving to Mexico was:

“Do you speak Spanish?”

“Yes,” I would answer—knowing full well that I was stretching the truth a bit.

I would explain that I took four years of Spanish in high school. In fact, I even received a small scholarship and won the Spanish Language Award.

To be fair, I was also the only senior who had taken four years of Spanish.

So… there wasn’t much competition.

That was 47 years ago.

And I had not really spoken Spanish for at least 46 of those years.

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Last year, when we started seriously talking about moving to Mexico, I began reviewing with Duolingo.

So if I’m being honest, I do not exactly “speak” Spanish.

I can remember common phrases, numbers, months, verbs, and nouns.

But speaking a language is very different from reviewing vocabulary on an app.

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Kent learned Spanish around the same time I did while serving a church mission. He spoke it every day for years, so his recall has been much smoother.

Since arriving here, I’ve tried to speak Spanish every day—but I suspect it sounds very broken and caveman-like.

“Where sugar?”
“Me no find.”
“Me want eat chicken.”

I’m trying.

And honestly, that seems to matter.

Several locals have kindly told me they appreciate the effort.

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On our daily walks, Kent and I often pass a group of men sitting outside talking together.

Wanting to be friendly—and a good guest in this country—I always try to greet them.

The problem is… I don’t always say the correct phrase for the time of day.

Sometimes I realize my mistake halfway through walking past them.

Then I awkwardly shout back the correct greeting along with “Lo siento!”

One day, one of the men gently corrected me.

And now I say it right.

Most of the time.

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We’ve been in Mexico for seven weeks.

For at least five of those weeks, Kent has been encouraging us to study Spanish together more seriously.

I resisted.

Not because I didn’t want to learn—but because I was tired.

Emotionally tired.

This season of life has already required so much change.

Selling our home. Leaving people we love. Retiring. Starting over in another country.

I just wasn’t ready to tackle one more difficult thing.

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But this week, we finally began studying together formally.

Kent printed out lessons and created a simple plan for us.

I’m glad he was patient with me.

And surprisingly…

I’m enjoying it.

One small piece at a time.

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I’m beginning to trust the process of learning again.

Maybe fluency won’t come quickly.

Maybe I’ll continue saying embarrassing things from time to time.

But I can already feel something shifting.

Little by little, this language is becoming less intimidating and more familiar.

And that feels good.

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Hasta luego,

— Judi

READ KENT’S MAY 10, 2026 POST