Learning to Laugh at Our Mistakes

Unexpected Perks of Learning a Second Language, Part II

I’ve written before about the unexpected perk of learning a second language, becoming more aware of how we talk to ourselves. This week I was reflecting on another unexpected perk that came to fruition over the course of my first years living in Spain, learning to laugh at my mistakes.

There was a real phase where I’d beat myself up about not being better at Spanish. I used to be harder on myself about the times I’d get lost in a conversation. Or, if I had trouble understanding someone. Which, trust me, living in Andalucía Spain is a frequent occurrence. The Andalucían accent is real. I equate it to my experience in Scotland when I took a taxi and had trouble understanding the taxi driver speaking English. That accent felt like another language far from my native one.

For awhile, I’d always have this background thought when I’d make mistakes or not understand someone, how is it I’ve lived here for 2/3/4 years and I can still get lost in a conversation. I started to become aware of how often I was thinking this and replaced it with another question, why am I being so hard on myself?

That experience has transmuted into some of the most important lessons I’ve learned while living here in Spain: having patience and grace with myself, releasing perfectionism, and celebrating how far I’ve come. Learning to laugh at myself is the arc forming perfectly across these three lessons.

I no longer take myself so seriously when I mess up, whether in Spanish or English, and this energy now more easily permeates my life experiences.

This post was inspired by an event earlier this week when I was explaining something to a Spanish friend and said “estaba inspectando.” My friend quickly corrected me, “no inspectando, inspeccionando!”

I laughed, “Invento palabras (I make up words).”

Photo by 1983 (steal my _ _ art) on Unsplash

The old me might have felt so frustrated with having lived here for over 10 years now and still making a seemingly simple mistake like that. But does it matter if I said inspectando instead of inspeccionando? My friend knew what I meant. And I love that they corrected me. I want to learn.

It may sound trite, but learning is an integral part of life. I personally believe we’re here to learn, grow, and evolve. Living my daily life in my non-native language is a humbling reminder.

I don’t know everything, and it’s ok that I don’t know everything. I prefer to be humbled by reminders about this instead of speaking perfectly all the time in one language, without ever bothering to learn another. How fun it is to spend every day learning new things, even if it’s something as simple as a new word.

Adding learning a language to the mix of life’s myriad lessons facilitates an evergreen environment where you remain elastic. That elasticity becomes the foundation for how you move about in other parts of your life - all thanks to the subtle effects of living life in your non-native language.