Estamos aprendiendo español (We are learning Spanish)

After 20 hours of Spanish, I’m not fluent, Not even close. Of course I knew I wouldn't be able to become fluent in 5 days, but one can hope. I attempted French lesson in Niger and Burmese lessons in Myanmar neither lasted long and I only learned enough words to be polite and avoid ordering foods that had mushrooms, olives, or tuna in them.

I had a lot more hope for learning Spanosh because I took it in high school. In general I understood pronunciation and could understand and speak simple sentences. Basically I could greet people, count, and name colors. I also knew and understood the rules of conjugation. I was looking to build my vocabulary to be able to communicate and ask questions while traveling.

My teacher, Edison, was amazing! Hands down one of the best instructors I’ve ever had. I had private lessons with him and he made the four hours a day fly by! Since I already knew how to conjugate verbs on paper, we spent a lot of time practicing conjugation while speaking. We did a lot of fun and engaging activities to help me get used to speaking more fluently. For example, we watched an episode of MTV’s Cribs so I could describe the house, I retold the plot of The Lion King (El Rey Leon), watched Mr. Bean and described what he was doing, googled TV families and described their personalities and relationships. Besides using paper and pen to write sentences I never once filled in a worksheet. When I zoned out and my attention dwindled, Edison would play popular Spansish songs on Youtube and I would try to translate the lyrics.

Although the lessons were really engaging, I had forgotten how hard it is to be a student. Some days I left class feeling like the smartest person in the world. I was excited and proud of what I’d learned and the progress I’d made. Other days I left feeling like a 6 year old would put me to shame. As a teacher, it was a great reminder of how my students’ attention, engagement, and motivation can fluctuate from day to day.

In the end, I gained a better understanding of Spanish Grammar. Writing is much easier than speaking and reading is much easier than listening. I sometimes switch up masculine and feminine, have a hard time hearing individual words in spoken spanish, and have terrible grammar. Moving forward I want to continue learning more words. Edision suggested listening to Youtube videos or podcasts to improve my listening skills (Tobias hopes this improve my listening skills in general). Overall it was a great experience and I hope to continue my Spanish education in the future.