Lately I've noticed that my Spanish oral production has taken a terrible nosedive. Not even when I was in the US immersed in 'Merican culture did I have this much trouble. My tongue feels lazy and weak, my speech is slow and erratic, and I'm forgetting words that I never would have forgotten before.
My first thought was that maybe this was related to the fact that I teach courses in English all week, but this can't be. I used to be exposed to English all the time, but my Spanish stayed just fine. I wonder if it's because I'm blending English and Spanish more often than before, since I'm spending time with Argentines that study English. Maybe my brain is having trouble keeping the sets separate and my vocal tract is having trouble switching out of the lax English mode. Maybe I'm just getting fat and lazy. I don't know!
I'm going to have to start a Spanish-intensive regimen shortly...
We VZ ETAs have noticed that we´ve become quite the ESL speakers; speaking no longer proper English nor proper Spanish...
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