I took three years of Spanish and got an A every semester. Even when it was still fresh in my mind, I was nowhere near able to hold even a very simple conversation. And now just a few years later it's all totally gone from my brain.
My mother's native language is Spanish and she never taught me, which I resent her for. But I still find it incredible how shitty my public school education in Spanish was. We really should be teaching kids a second language from kindergarten up.
Cuando visitaba a Costa Rica para mis estudios intercambios, tuve un choque cultural cuando me di cuenta q muchxs ticx no tienen ninguna habilidad de hablar inglés pese a la presencia de multinacionales estadounidenses.
Como estadounidense, tenía la opinión contraria. La mayoría de personas simplemente no continúa su aprendizaje escolar de idiomas extranjeros y es una pena.