I'm having a boring evening so I'm back already. Aphra sounds like you and I have experienced the same situation. Isn't always easier to speak abroad with someone who appreciates your broken Spanish. They are thankful and apprecitaive rather than critical...rgf, for whatever reason, my inlaws mostly call me yay-me.
Lame story-Four years ago when I went to apply at the Spanish restaurant where I met my husband, my speaking skills were limited and I guess I was not fully aware that "Jaime" could not be a girl's name. I walked in and said to my future brother-n-law, Hola, me llamo Jaime(pronounced in Spanish) They have been razzing me about that for a long time. People in general do think its somewhat strange. I get alot of mail and phone calls adressing Mr. Jaime.....My econ development prof. the other day asked me if I was aware that my real name is Hi-may. I told her that in fact it wasn't since I am a gringa Wisconsite.

As far as language goes I always thought I had a flair for them too. I listened to French pronunciation tapes at home just for fun of it all throughout highschool. When it came to just listening to conversation and picking it up I thought I was pretty decent. The problem is that I had too much pride and was always afraid of making a mistake or looking dumb. I wish I would have swallowed it long ago and I wouldn't have had to work as much later.