I have a long history with the study of the Spanish language, going back to fifth or sixth grade when our class was herded into the school auditorium to view televised Spanish lessons.
When I got to high school, I wanted to study French, but it wasn't offered that semester, so I took Spanish.
When I had to fill my foreign language requirement in college, it was a matter of convenience to continue with Spanish
For years after that, I let my knowledge of Spanish atrophy until I met the Mexican-American woman who would become my wife. We had no reason to speak Spanish to each other, but her whole family spoke it, and whenever we visited them, I was in the dark.
Then I became an ESL teacher, and I had two new reasons to learn Spanish: to be able to communicate with my Spanish-speaking students, and to have a deeper insight into the process of second language acquisition.
So about four years ago, I began a campaign to become fluent in Spanish by taking community college classes, listening constantly to Spanish language radio in my car, and generally making an effort to communicate to Spanish speakers. I have met with very limited success. It's an ongoing, difficult struggle, and I am making slow, halting progress.