Making Spanish noises.

I can't really say that I speak Spanish, though there have recently been some signs that it is coming along:

• I have managed to have two fully Spanish telephone conversations in the last few weeks.
• Non-Spanish speakers hear me make the Spanish noise with my co-workers and express surprise when they later discover that I speak English.
• People who saw me recently after having not seen me for a couple of months commented on how I have improved.
• I can hear mistakes in the Spanish used by non-Spanish speakers.
• I can spot a typo a mile away (apparently, I am bilingual as a grammar Nazi).

Continued reflection upon the learning of a second language has brought me to this: is the second language ever really yours? At what point do you go beyond "speaking" the language and start "knowing" the language?

There are certain words and phrases, at this point, that need no automatic translation in my brain. I hear them, I know what they mean, and I can act or respond accordingly without thinking of an English equivalent. However, there's still nothing that evokes any emotion. It's still just a collection of sounds, of which I occasionally know the meaning.

If someone were to call me stupid in Spanish, for example (although obviously THAT would never happen), I don't believe my feelings would be in the least bit hurt, because "Eres una idiota" has no emotional resonance for me.  "You're stupid" does.

I haven't taught any Spanish yoga classes yet, but I think fairly often about what I would say, how I would explain things. As a teacher, you strive to use clear language first and foremost, but beyond that, as long as it's clear, you also strive for poetry -- imagery that might help the student understand the pose. When I use words like brighten, expand, ground, and fly, I get a certain feeling that I can put into my body and my yoga practice. When I think of their equivalents in Spanish, that doesn't happen.

Not yet. What I'm saying is, although I am making progress, there is so very, very far to go.