This makes me remember the first time I asked for a hair cut in the US, whith my brand new shaky english, I came out bald (practically)......Keep in mind that experiences always add up to your personality and even something frustrating today will be a valuable asset tomorrow

I am also going to Spain in May for a Study abroad program (first time). These stories are great, and making feel much better:) I am nervous about the language also. One thing I am doing that I hope will help is being a part of a "conversation exchange" at my University in the US. Twice a week, I go to this group of both American students, as well as international students from Spain. We just meet to "talk" and hangout. The first hour it is all Spanish (which benefits me), and the last hour is English to help them. It has also been nice because the Spanish students have been very helpful with with my MANY questions about life in Spain! Check with your International Studies Department and see if they have anything like this...if not- start your own group! It has been a great experience for me:)

LiM/Russell's comments reminded me of all of the issues with names...many of our names are a challenge to Spanish-speakers when we pronounce them the "American way." I practiced mine with a Spanish accent for a while, and always introduced myself that way. It's harder for my husband, Doug (doo-glas?) or when I'm talking about our daughter, Lauren (lauw-rhen?). You probably don't have to drop your "J" or make it sound like an "H" (as in, "hola, soy henn!"), but try to make it sound more like a Spanish-speaker would pronounce it! All your new Spanish friends will say it that way, anyway!!

Tara

I remember the first time I came to Spain and met my girlfriend´s father. I took a year and a half of spanish in college and though I knew it all. It was my second day there, we were in the car with her father and I heard something on the radio about "el pollo mas grande de California" (the biggest chicken from California) so curiously I said "¿Qué es la polla mas grande de California?" not paying enough attention to the o/a. Thank God my girfriend´s father had a good sense of humor. for those that don´t know ´polla´ is penis.

Priceless!

Even better, in Chile there´s a lottery called ´la Polla Chilena de Beneficencia'...

The first time I saw that in Chile, I almost choked

Well now after 2 years here I am completely 'españolisado' (such as being argumentative and swearing a lot more among other things ) and when I go back to New York I speak Spanish a lot. However, I use a lot of slang and notably the verb 'coger' which is off limits en las Américas... anyway the differences between Latino and Castellano Spanish are mainly in vocabulary and it shows...

I went to Spain as a missionary for my church, and I went with a whole 2 months of language training, needless to say I was a bit nervous. My biggest embarrassment was also at a McDonalds, on my second day, thinking I would be safe asking for an ice cream cone, I asked for a "conyo de nata" i didn't know why everybody working there was laughing at me until after we had left and my companion explained to me.

Oh my, that's really bad! I made the mistake once of explaining to a group of friends (mostly guys) that I had a "conejo" (I had a pet rabbit at the time). The told me they already knew- I finally caught on after they were practically rolling on the ground. Live and learn.