LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

 Many writers glorify the art of writing and encourage others to put their thoughts on paper, to develop their ideas, plots, realities, traumas, fears, and fantasies, convinced that writing liberates the mind and brings a deep sense of satisfaction. For them, the act of writing can be a source of almost limitless pleasure and delight. My own experience has been rather different. My writing is nothing to write home about (pun intended), and I have so few readers that not even my relatives take a peek at my "literary" output. They invariably assure me of their keen interest, only to add that they simply have no time. Steven Pressfield's delightful little book Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t  fits me to a T. All this came to mind because I recently came across a remark by Tom Wolfe in Hooking Up , in the chapter "My Three Stooges." He writes: "I can tell you... to write one book is a killer financially, a blow to the base of the skull mentally and physically, h...

Steven Pressfield , in his " The War of Art ", which I recommend, explains what a pro is. Allow me to paraphrase: A pro is he who shows up every morning, the person we can always count on, the man or woman who is reliable, who never waivers or falters. A pro is a professional, the opposite of slacker, incompetent, amateur, clumsy, inept, inexperienced... a dabbler who works at anything in an irregular or  superficial manner. I am a professional student of Spanish, English, French, German, Valenciano... and not a day goes by without studying and learning something in these languages. I have not mastered them well, and never will, I know, but I will keep on trying, till the day I die. I am a professional. I am a pro. A serious student. I make no excuses about lack of time, about traffic, lack of money, my job, my family, parking spaces... Do you take your language-study seriously?