I remember it as if it were yesterday. I know, it sounds like a cliché, but I really do. It was my first day at high school in Spain; I was 15 and couldn’t speak a word of Spanish. Yet, all my classes were to be taught in Spanish despite attending a bilingual school. When I found this out, you could imagine the little dramatic scenario that played out in my teenage girl mind: “I won’t understand anything in class!”, “I won’t understand the teachers…”, “I will probably have to repeat a school year and my whole life will be ruined…”

As a matter of fact, I actually ended up learning the language very quickly and naturally and didn’t repeat a school year. Sometimes, I even got higher marks than my classmates in subjects taught in their first language and my second. Three years of high school, which meant three years of translating my textbooks from Spanish to English on Friday nights, and studying endlessly led me to achieve my goals of passing with good marks and gaining access to university.

However, looking back, I now realize that immigrating to Spain as a teenager without speaking any Spanish didn’t only affect my education but also my integration into Spanish culture. When a student made a joke and the whole class burst into laughter, I would be the only one not to understand the joke, leaving me feeling isolated and left out. I also couldn’t show people the real Myka, the essence of my personality. I could only try to follow conversations as best as possible and take 10 minutes to think of something to contribute to the conversation, in order  to not feel like a piece of furniture in the room, a mute, never speaking. This was also very frustrating. People thought I was extremely shy and quiet, whereas in actual fact, I was actually quite funny with very interesting stories to share about my life from SA.

I soon began to believe that this perhaps was my new personality, but when surrounded by English speakers, suddenly a totally different Myka would break loose, and then I realized it was really just a huge language barrier.

As I grew older and the years passed, I gradually became more and more integrated and began to enjoy wholesome conversations with friends, peers and locals.

From time to time, now 16 years later, I still find myself mis-pronouncing a word, making a small grammar mistake or not understanding a typical Spanish expression, even though I would now consider myself bilingual.

 Language learning is a journey that never ends, but it becomes easier and more enjoyable each time, so don’t give up! It may seem very challenging at first, but overcoming the obstacle will only create a better version of yourself, leading to incredible personal growth, maturity and newly acquired confidence.