Tropical biology and Spanish like to show up at the same parties on this side of the world. There is no replacement for actually learning Spanish vocabulary and tenses, and there is no replacement for cultural immersion. But after having a foundation and an opportunity to learn, the line on my CV, "fluent in Spanish" still has a wide spectrum of fluency. Some days I can articulate with ease, and other days I have no idea what we're talking about around the dinner table. After