One big problem with gaining some degree of competency in Spanish, we have discovered, is it has an adverse affect on our ability to speak French.
We had a very multi-cultural weekend, hanging out with our visiting friends Ayesha (a Londoner whose family hail from Gujurat) and Obaro (originally from Nigeria) and collecting Spanish, Valencian, Swiss, French, German and Canadian friends along the way. At various points I enthusiastically leapt into conversations in French, thinking that having studied it for 14 years I would find it easier than speaking Spanish, only to find, much to my dismay, that I kept slipping back into Spanish. Ironic really, as whenever I can't think of a word in Spanish I tend to try a French one.
It appears to be the case with language that you use it or lose it. Eventually, by the end of the weekend, my French had just about resurrected itself but it definitely needs more practice - I feel a regular intercambio with our non-English speaking Senegalese friends Ibrahima and Abobacar is called for, without delay.
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