I have a confession to make. I have never shared this with anyone. When I little pres-school age boy, I got my first bike. Of course it was gold in color, typical of the ‘60’s. I don’t think it was a Schwinn. I didn’t get my first Schwinn until a few years later, but I digress. It is confession time… I had training wheels on my first bike. I have never told anyone that. Please don’t share such an embarrassing revelation. Any self-respecting young boy should be able to ride his bike confidently with a perfect balancing act from the very beginning. Or maybe that is not true? Maybe it is an issue of pride.

I think I carried my disdain for training wheels into my adult life. For some reason I think I have to be able to do something perfect before I do it at all. If an objective cannot be attained in a reasonable amount of time, I get really discouraged. I have silly tendency to give up before I start. That is really foolish thinking. I hate to admit this, but I think it could be a common ailment among all males. I do believe it is indeed an issue of pride.

My Spanish teacher this week in a continuing education course I took at Tarrant County College reminded us repeatedly that we can get our point across in Spanish without speaking it flawlessly. She told us that over and over again in several different ways. I needed to hear it, because I struggle with that issue of pride.

I have wanted to be fully bi-lingual for quite some time, but the task of learning a second language is overwhelming. My college Spanish professor, Mary Perez was exceptional. I continue to use what she taught us over 25 years ago. Numerous mission trips to Mexico over the past 12 years have helped a lot too. Spending time with the police officers in the field has been an additional aid.
But I have been hesitant to practice my Spanish, because I still make a lot of mistakes. Could that be called pride?

Our instructor this week, J.C. Romero, is a great lady. She did not learn Spanish until later in life, because her parents did not emphasize spoken Spanish in their home. Naturally they wanted their children to excel in English. I found her story to be encouraging. In fact, I just found her to be a great teacher.

She convinced me this week that if I am going to learn it well I must be willing to speak it imperfectly for a long time. That has inspired me to try harder than ever to move toward my goal of being bi-lingual. I need to be patient. I am going to have to work at it for a long time. In fact, I may not be able to remove the language training wheels for quite some time. That is ok. I left my pride alongside the road somewhere on the way to class this morning.