The Oklahoma Bar Journal February 2024

T he B ack P age

Learning a New Language By Lisbeth L. McCarty

C ONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION is a requirement for Oklahoma attorneys, which makes sense because there are always new laws, new terms and new concepts to learn. I also enjoy continuing my education in other areas, which is what prompted me to take steps to learn how to speak Spanish. These efforts resulted in my creation of the following poem:

CLASE DE ESPAÑOL My teacher speaks so rapidly as I sit there so vapidly Learning Spanish is truly rough Those gender verbs do make it tough And what about the strangest plight where double-negatives are right? There’s two words to say “to be” All these choices are haunting me! But somehow, I am still compelled

to learn, albeit overwhelmed Although I sit here at a loss, I refuse to say, “No más.”

Ms. McCarty is a Norman-based attorney and author.

72 | FEBRUARY 2024

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL