Thoughts on the Language Barrier: Anxiety and Opportunity

As I was reading an article on participatory action research (which entails getting multiple "stakeholders" involved in the research design and process) I had a thought that I've had several times before when thinking about my own research: this kind of participatory approach to my research would be great, but I feel a disappointing hesitation with actually implementing it, not because I don't think it's important or would be a good thing to do, but because of my lack of fluency in Spanish. I realized that if I was working with communities and farmers in the US I would be much more "comfortable" with doing this kind of participatory research, but because I am not fluent in Spanish I to be honest am somewhat "scared" of taking on that kind of approach. I've caught myself feeling this way several times, and in moments of stress I half wish I was working in the US for my research. It's strange because I think I feel an extra "pressure" to learn the language and be fluent because I am somewhat conversant in Spanish. If I was working in a country where I knew nothing of the language, I don't think I'd feel as much internal pressure to be completely fluent and "perform well". Despite all these moments of doubt, I know this whole experience will make me that much stronger, and I'll come out of it with a much better handle on speaking Spanish and with conversing and working with people in Spanish-speaking countries. Now it’s time to buckle back down and really practice!