[Chip]

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

Also, at times, I will be speaking to someone in English and a Spanish word comes out, which is quite weird but I am usually able to catch myself before it comes out. Does this happen to anyone else?

Most certainly

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

I still find at times that some people that speak Spanish at a lower level and really fast are harder to understand than those who speak proper Spanish. Why is this? I don’t have that same problem in English. I have heard some pretty bad English from native speakers but I am always able to completely understand what they are saying. Maybe I am still at a level that I am only able to process “proper” Spanish and I’m not able to distinguish well between different accents or levels of Spanish?

I still have problems at times with these type of speakers mostly because of their improper pronunciation, grammar and use of slang.

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

You mention the types of situations in which your level of Spanish varies. I find that I am able to speak at a higher level with people I know possibly because I feel more comfortable?

The key is what makes one comfortable.

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

Also, I don’t know if anyone else has had this experience but I find that if I have had a few drinks, my Spanish improves exponentially. My husband has even commented that at times when I have had a few drinks and we are at a party, etc., if it were not for the fact that I am blonde and obviously not a native to the Dominican Republic, one would not know that I was not a native Spanish speaker. I don’t think this is because I feel less shy about speaking when I’m drinking because right from the beginning I have never been shy about speaking to people, even when my Spanish was very basic, so I don’t know why I am better able to drop my accent in this situation and not at other times?

I believe most people find this true (incl myself) as alcohol has the effect of relaxing the brain and the body.

Originally Posted by Fiesta Mama

One thing worth mentioning that I am pretty certain of is that if you are not a native Spanish speaker, it would be much easier to lose what you have learned if you depart from the country or from speaking it on a regular basis. For example, I don’t think it would be easy for me to lose my English if I were to live in the Dominican Republic full time and didn’t speak English regularly but if I were to not continue practicing Spanish regularly, no matter how fluent I am now, I think I could eventually lose it. Does anyone else agree with me and why do you think that is? I suppose the longer we speak a language the more ingrained it is in our mind?

I think it depends on the amount of time one has spent speaking a language. At some point when one thinks long enough in a language it would seem to me to be difficult to forget completely.