Spanish With Kerry Kerry Brennan

"Feeling unable to claim your identity because of not having the language..."

A reality that many Latinos who grow up in the United States face. If they don't have mastery of the language, they may be told they're "not really Mexican, not really Puerto Rican, not really Venezuelan..." etc.  

In this conversation, Annette shares her journey of having grown up spending every summer in Puerto Rico and later losing fluidity in the language as an adult. The humbling and emotionally charged journey of picking up the language again is something that I believe will resonate with many listeners. 



Find Annette & Whole Hoops on Instagram @wholehoops

www.wholehoops.com

Looking to make 2021 your year for learning Spanish?  In part one, I share my perspective on how to maximize progress and set realistic goals for yourself.  

Do you know there's multiple ways to say "here" and "there" in Spanish?  Part two looks at the differences between aquí, acá, allí and allá. 



Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  I was so happy to spend time back home with my family.  Thanks for your patience as I allowed myself to be present there. 3

How do we attach feelings to words? How can we feel like we're really expressing things close to our heart in our second language?  It's a challenge you'll inevitably face in the language learning process.  In this episode, I share some reflections as well as vocabulary that can help you to better express yourself in Spanish. 

How is it that you can recognize the sound of your name above hundreds of sounds in any given environment? 

We can use this same mechanism within the brain to tune into the language we're learning, improve our listening comprehension, and understand the more challenging aspects of grammar. Part 1 of this episode explains how. 

In Part 2, we look at Saber & Conocer... two verbs that can mean "to know."  How to know when to use which "to know?" HA! That's what me and my buddy David Faulkner help you to understand. 

*CLARIFICATION-  I say that "conocer" is always used for "meeting someone"  What I mean is meeting someone for the first time.  To imply that you came to know someone through work, you would use "conocer."  Conocer is NOT used, however, when meeting up with someone. If you want to express that you and your friends met up at a restaurant, you would use "encontrarse." 

Links & References- 


Saber & Conocer Practice 
"De Cabo a Rabo. The Most Comprehenzive Guide to Learning Spanish Ever Written." -David Faulkner 

If you're in this thing for real, you're going to get overwhelmed at times.  There's so so so much to learn... even if you want to be "just conversational." So sometimes we need to put the heavy stuff aside and reconnect to what it is that we love about the language. 

That's exactly what I did in this episode.  I share with you some vocab that I've learned since I've moved to Puerto Rico that I just love! You'll hear my smile. :D



What is it that you love about Spanish?  Be able to go back to that in times where you feel bogged down and overwhelmed by parts of the language that you don't love as much. 

Jordan Nealy joins me for the first interview of this podcast to share his experience of becoming bilingual.  His story captures what the language learning process is truly about. Anyone who hopes to achieve a level of fluency would benefit greatly from adopting his mindset.



My sincerest thanks to you, Jordan. I enjoyed this conversation so so much and am grateful to have crossed paths with you.

Find Jordan on TikTok @jwnealy

Find me on Instagram & TikTok @kerrybe_ and on Facebook @Spanish With Kerry