I used to think that way all the time because I was so self-conscious of my Spanish.

Anyone speaking Spanish and smiling and giggling made me feel like an outsider.

Of course it was my lack of Spanish skills that created this problem.

Why would I be the topic of conversation all the time anyway?

As gorgeous looking as I am, I am positive I was not the topic of conversation all the time anyway.

Spanish-speaking culture places a high value on manners and courtesy. Talking badly about people behind their backs isn’t common. If the chat goes that way someone always seems to change the subject pretty quickly.

So, it’s not likely that people are speaking in Spanish behind your back, but if it ever were to happen, here’s what you would say:

To say behind someone’s back you say, “a espaldas”. And to say behind my back you say, a mis espaldas.

Here’s the expression in action.

No hables de mi a mis espaldas
Don’t speak about me behind my back

no me gusta hablar a espaldas a nadie.
I don’t like to speak behind anyone’s back.

WARNING: Mild profanity coming.

Although it’s pretty funny, if you are offended look away.

si hablas a mis espaldas habla con mi culo
If you speak behind my back you speak with my butt.

I don’t recommend using the last one. In Latin America the word culo is considered quite vulgar. In Spain it’s not a big deal and they use it quite a lot.

I don’t recommend using any of the sentences above because it’s likely people aren’t really speaking behind your back anyway.

Yet, if I told you to just be confident I’d be a hypocrite. I never had confidence or got over my feelings of paranoia until I got a good handle on the language.

Now I am confident in Spanish wherever I go because competence breeds confidence.

I have spent the last 7 years building a step-by-step system that can make anyone competent and therefore confident in Spanish. If you have ever felt like an outsider in Spanish, then here is how you too can start to speak confident and competent Spanish.

http://www.synergyspanishsystems.com/competence.html

If you’re like I was you might find it difficult to believe you too can be confident in your Spanish.

Click the link above and read about others just like you who thought they could not speak Spanish… and now they do.