DVC888

Definitely. Once you get the underlying structure of what makes a language, it's much easier to learn more.

You may have this intuition anyway if you have a very good grasp of your first language.

English. Occasionally I catch myself thinking a bit in Spanish.

Spanish is the only language that I've reached that level of fluency in.

It's strange with accents. When I'd spent a lot of time in Colombia, I had people in Spain think that I was Colombian, but then when I told my Colombian friends, they thought it was ridiculous. More recently, I was asked by an Argentinian if I was Mexican, which my Mexican wife thought was very funny. I guess I speak well enough that people think that it might be my first language but that I'm definitely foreign.

Quips, I don't know. I remember thinking that the joke name Jean Coultamaire was very funny in French because it means "I sodomise your mother".

It's definitely true that there are lots of people who are in it to meet women. In fairness, probably no more than in any other job. They just have more success because they're 'exotic'.

I've moved up the ranks a bit now so I don't see it so much.

To keep teaching well? Steal as many ideas of everyone else as possible!

There are so many different approaches and styles to teaching and each student and class is totally different so the most important thing is to be aware of a lot of different ways to teach the same thing. The strange thing about teaching is that often, you can go a long time without being exposed to another teacher's class. It's just you and the students for months on end and you can fall into the trap of thinking that your way of doing it is the only way.

There are loads of different kinds of teaching jobs, too. If you feel yourself burning out, it's probably time for a change but this doesn't necessarily mean leaving teaching altogether.