John White, MBA

6 years ago · 1 min. reading time · ~100 ·

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My Pocket Spanish Dictionary Was My Security Blanket

My Pocket Spanish Dictionary Was My Security Blanket

Collins

—2eeh ir —
NyeEhei ll

Dictionary

I will never forget the moment I arrived in Spain as a teenager. I got off the plane and met my Spanish host family for the first time and they began to greet me speaking in Spanish. It was at that exact moment that I realized that my two years of Spanish in high school that I had taken up to that point had been worthless.

I couldn't understand a word they were saying. I thought for sure that I would be able to recognize keywords and then decipher what they were saying to me. But it wasn't happening. They were speaking so fast that even if they were saying words I recognized, I couldn't keep up to make sense of any of it.

a94478bb.jpgI needed a solution to this problem and fast. Fortunately, I had my pocket Spanish dictionary to save the day and enable me to communicate with the lovely Spanish family that had welcomed me into their home. In those days, we didn't have smartphones with translation apps. My translation app was my pocket dictionary.

It literally fit into my pocket and I took it EVERYWHERE I went. If I didn't have it, I felt naked. I needed to be able to circumnavigate life in Spain and couldn't function without it.

The more I used it the better I got at it. I was looking up words in seconds and the more words I looked up the more I started to remember them.

Today, my security blanket is my smartphone. I can run my business from my phone from anywhere. I love taking pictures with it. It serves so many purposes in my life that it's the ONE thing I can't live without. 


The only I time I am ever without it as at the dinner table with my family (my wife implemented this rule). 

I'm a grown man who's not afraid to admit that I have a security blanket. I can't leave home without my phone. How about you, do you have something that you take with you everywhere that helps you cope with the world around you? 

""
Comments

John White, MBA

6 years ago #10

#13
That's a great coping mechanism, Cyndi wilkins. Thanks for chiming in!

Cyndi wilkins

6 years ago #9

The thing I try to take everywhere to cope with the world around me is a sense of humor...If I didn't laugh, I'd cry...Nice buzz John White, MBA;-)

Jerry Fletcher

6 years ago #8

John, When you get to a certain age you don't go anywhere without your glasses. At least they make them now without that line through the middle!

Irene 🐝 Rodriesco

6 years ago #7

el movil y beBee 😉.

Lisa Vanderburg

6 years ago #6

haha...I SO understand and empathize; could've sworn I spoke Spanish! My security blanket would most likely be my head. i try not to leave home without it (it has been known....). Great fun!
#4
John White, MBA. "en pelotas" 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂

John White, MBA

6 years ago #4

#1
Sin el movil me siento desnudo. 🤣🤣
Funny--when I read that you had two years of Spanish I immediately transformed my two into four. Must of have just felt like that long. I often say I learned more about English than Spanish during those years.

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #2

Muy bueno, Juan! ✌️️🤓🌍 🇪🇸
LOL me too ! I can't leave home without my phone.

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