Learning a new language is hard. If you don’t know what we’re talking about then you never learned a second language OR you’re one of those freaks who love to conjugate verbs, gobble up new grammar like it’s gummy bears, can’t wait to wade through new vocabulary and says things like “Next, I think I’ll learn Swahili…”. Yeah, we’re talking about YOU Megan.

Anyway, we’ve just completed five weeks of Spanish language immersion classes at a school in Guadalajara called IMAC. With the help of our teacher Saray (pitcure a 23 year old Spanish-speaking Julie McCoy after a few double espressos), we learned four new tenses, a ton of new vocabulary and more grammar rules then we remember ever learning in English.  Right now it’s all a muddle of Spanglish in our heads.

Why did we choose to torture ourselves at IMAC as opposed to any of the other language school options in Guadalajara like CEPE or the Harvest Language Center? Well, after fairly exhaustive comparative research, it became clear that most language schools are essentially the same and you’re just  not going to know which one works  best for you until you’re sitting there in class. Also, IMAC was offering a two-for-one special.

Conicidentally, near the end of our course, the “Travel with Val” program on NY1, a local news station in our hometown of New York City, aired a segment on IMAC.

So, did we learn how to comprehend, read, write and speak Spanish? This post is in English, isn’t it? Seriously, we know a LOT more about speaking, reading, writing and understanding Spanish then we did five weeks ago–and certainly more than we did after graduating from our weak high school Spanish classes. Karen’s two big take-aways from two years of high school Spanish are that she knows all of the words to Cielito Lindo and she can remember that her “Spanish” name was Ramona. Thanks, public school.

However, it’s going to take a heck of a lot more than five weeks to get us speaking with confidence, but we’re on our way. Our skills are WAY better than this guy’s…

We have to say, we came up with what must rank as the best gracias por todo gift a Spanish language student ever gave their 23-year-old female teacher: access to the set where Alejandro Fernández–a singer almost inconceiveably huge in Latin America–was shooting his latest music video. Many thanks, also, to our friend Pepe Homs, an executive producer at  Cedro Films and co-owner of the awesome Casa del Atrio in the city of Queretaro, for making dreams come true. Again.

Trust us when we tell you that Alejandro Fernández is hotter (and more universally appealing) than a cross between Justin Timberlake, the Jonas Brothers, Frank Sinatra and Barry White. Oh, and he’s about to embark on an eight city, month-long tour of the US in the spring so check your local listings.

Where are we headed next? Don’t you know not to ask us that by now? All we can tell you with any certainty is that wherever we go, they’ll speak Spanish when we get there.

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How you can support the Trans-Americas Journey:

If you are interested in learning Spanish, check out our Amazon store for our personally recomended Spanish language learning products and resources.

Listen to and buy Alejandro Fernández’s new Album, Dos Mundos (Two Worlds) – Two albums produced and released at the same time. One is a pop album (Evolución), the other contains traditional ranchera and mariachi music (Tradición).

Or, Shop at the iTunes Music Store.

Note: If you purchase any of these products from the Amazon or iTunes links above, you help fund on our Journey just a little bit, without paying a penny more. As they say, muchas gracias.

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