Parlez-vous Français? ¿Habla Español?

Not yet! But I will! It is my dream to be truly bilingual. I want to think in other languages and everything! I want to see the world, but with a small child, I have to be able to communicate effectively with people because I fully intend to drag him along!

I took Spanish for in excess of five years and worked in a school that was close to half Hispanic and Mi español es pequeño. But I know enough to begin working on another language. I chose French because I want to see Paris and Africa.

In the maps below, blue is for French-speaking countries, green is for English-Speaking countries, and red is for Spanish-speaking countries. With those three under my belt, I should be able to talk to almost anyone native to this hemisphere (Portuguese is not a far leap).

As I searched for the most widely spoken languages, I realized that that could be interpreted several different ways. It could be interpreted as the language most widely identified as a first language by individuals or as national language by governments. Most widely spoken could be interpreted in terms of the geographical expanse over which the language is spoken. Or it could be interpreted as the number of people who speak the language, regardless of national language, first language, etc. I guess that I was looking for the geographic spread and the number of speakers even as a second or other language. Couldn't find a pie graph of that. I just kept finding Mandarin as the most popular language even though it is NOT spoken outside of China.

Anyhow, here are my language goals:
I want to become fluent in Spanish, speaking, reading, writing, listening and thinking in the language but the end of the summer.
I want to begin building a vocabulary in French and conjugate in the present and past tenses by the end of summer.

I have found these articles to help me begin to think in a foreign language:
http://www.fluentin3months.com/thinking/
http://www.fasterforeignlanguagelearning.com/blog/think-in-a-foreign-language.html
http://www.language-learning-tips.com/15_automating_your_thinking.htm

And on pronunciation:
http://www.thepolyglotdream.com/the-secret-to-learning-a-foreign-language-resonate-with-it/

I will be back to reflect on the tips in these articles and create a plan.

French Speaking Countries in Light Blue

 

 

English Speaking Countries in Green

Spanish Speaking Countries in Red