It was another Spanish class today and I was enjoying it even more than usual. I’m learning Spanish close to two years now, I’m now on C1 which means intermediate level in Cervantes Institute’s terminology. It means that I can now easily enjoy radio or TV understanding 80% of what is being said. Since my local cable operator removed the last Spanish TV channel two weeks ago I’m now left only with radio over the Internet when it comes to spoken Spanish. But there are some of them to choose from and some are quite interesting.

One that I like is Radio Klara from Valencia. Yesterday around this time they talked about the risks of genetically modified crops, today they have some HR (“recursos humanos”) consultants as guest and are discussing the orientation protocol or procedure for newly employed, how important it is for companies etc. Not very exciting in itself, but I’m excited because I can follow the discussion while at the same time typing this blog entry in English.

Yesterday I got myself into a discussion about Pinochet and the military coup in Chile in 1973 on a political site. I was able to quickly find some documents from the time that supported my arguments and even translate key parts easily for use in my posts. Oh, boy, was I happy.

I really feel that this new window on the world is opening for me thanks to getting my Spanish to the level when passive understanding is easy. Now, I’ve only to get my speaking and – most of all – writing up to that level. But now I’m pretty sure this will come with time too.