Let us be bilingual! -- updated

More current info on Manuel Franco:

He is currently still practicing in Los Angeles.

Another myth I have observed is that people tend to believe everyone either speaks Spanish or English, simple as that!  This is absolutely untrue!  If you take a close look at the situation, you find a bewildering array of individual characteristics.

Just like with last names.  Not every Hispanic surname means the person in question speaks Spanish.  Not every Anglo surname means you're "English-only" (ie Ricky Martin, Vicente Fox)

My sister took four years of formal education in Spanish, but she does not speak Spanish, as they say, "fluently". She can catch the gist of what someone is saying most of the time and muddle awkwardly through a person-to-person conversation well enough, most of the time.

Children are amazing in their ability to master two languages at once, but it seems at a certain point brainlock sets in, and learning a new language becomes a struggle.

Then you have the purist vs the colloquial or "slang" wars ongoing. Example: the vast majority of Spanish speakers call a car "el caro".  This will outrage the purists.  No!  That is called an automóvil!

What if you really want to become fluent in Spanish?

Options:

You can use your app

You can use your old school Spanish-English textbook.

You can take an online course from a company like Duolingo

You can drive to a brick and mortar school.

Or you can do something unusual, and watch old episodes of La Corte del Pueblo.

This is a now-cancelled Spanish language Judge Judy style court show, hosted by Manuel Franco assisted by his English-only speaking bailiff, Michael.

Judge Franco speaks flawless English and flawless Spanish, often switching back and forth between the two.

We regret that the NBC-Univision merger caused the cancellation of Judge Franco's show, because he was no different than any other "tough love" court entertainment show.

Jesika says check out La Corte del Pueblo!  Here's a sample.  Thank God for YouTube!  Note: extended darkscreen is due to the uploader removing commercials, not the end of the video.  They'll be back!

And in conclusion, any or all of the above will work. So we'll say we'll give occasional updates on Jesika's journey to become fluent in Spanish, self-absorbed as that may be!