This eventually led to reading Hispanic studies at university where learning Portuguese was a requirement. Because this was forced upon me and similar to Spanish but different, I resented learning it. For some reason I didn't love learning Portuguese grammar the way I'd loved spanish in high school. Perhaps because it was challenging. It wasn't until I studied abroad in Portugal in my 3rd year that I began to love it. The language had become communicative and had meaning. In my final year at university my Portuguese language grades surpassed my Spanish grades. This was thanks to the immersive experience of living abroad.

I went onto study translation which I loved as it meant delving into the meaning behind the words again and solving grammatical problems. But it is something I will always have to work hard at, especially now that I haven't used either language in 8 years!