DEAR HARRIETTE: My boyfriend speaks Spanish and English. His family is from Mexico, and his parents speak Spanish only. Whenever we are together with his family, he serves as translator. I know virtually no Spanish, and they about as much English. I feel terrible about this. I want to be able to communicate with them directly. We smile a lot and certain messages get across, but no real language is happening. I feel like I should take a Spanish class, but I doubt it would teach me everyday Spanish. Plus, I don’t know if we are going to stay together. Is it worth it to invest in learning another language? -- Learning Spanish
DEAR LEARNING SPANISH: Spanish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, so it will not be a waste for you to learn it. It certainly will endear you to his family for trying.
You are right that a basic Spanish class will teach you grammatically correct speech versus the vernacular, but it is a start. You can ask your boyfriend to help you with sayings that are particular to his family and community. This can be a lot of fun for the two of you and will surely make him feel happy that you care that much.
You can also take a course or search online for support. One site you may want to visit is Fluentu.com, which has sections dedicated to slang.
(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)