“Buenos Dias”
“? Como estas?”
“Bien, gracias. ? y, usted?”
“Bien”
These are just a few of the statements I’m learning in Spanish. I took two years of Spanish in high school, yet I have learned more these past two weeks than I ever remember…
There could be many reasons for this: 1. I’m surrounded by native speakers and immersed in the culture. 2. I desire to learn the language. 3. Maybe I really do have previous knowledge I didn’t know about. 4. Probably the most likely, God is answering my prayers!
However, learning a new language isn’t easy. I’m in a class of complete beginners. All five of us have different learning styles. Heather enjoys drawing while the teacher is teaching; she focuses better. John wants to know every detail and the “why” behind every rule. Jeanette just goes for it. Kari sits quietly until asked a question; I can see her mind really pressing in to understand. And I just try and pray for an epiphany!!
We’re all growing in our knowledge and conversational skills in Spanish. We’ve had amazing, interactive teachers for the entire first week… and Monday, our conversational teacher changed…
She opened the class by teaching reflexive verbs in Spanish straight from the book. (We must remember that my friend Jeanette has only had a week of Spanish class in her entire 33 years of life.) First of all, reflexive verbs are over our head; we’re just trying to remember the meaning behind certain verbs. Also, our teacher would correct us and move on, absolutely no body language or response to what we were saying. Naturally, we were all becoming a little frustrated and wondering where this teacher came from; her teaching style was completely different than our previous teachers. Being a fixer, I tried to change the subject by asking to play a game using our Spanish skills, after all it is our conversation class. Jeanette became completely overwhelmed and silently left the classroom. When another teacher asked how she was, she began to cry. Previous to the trip, she taught in inter-city Detroit for nine years and one year in Brazil. She knows how to teach and how her students respond, but it has been a long time where she learned something brand-new for the absolute first time in her life. This was just how she reacted; she truly felt like her students. Ironically, there was beauty in our five reactions of trying to truly comprehend something a little above our head.
I’ve learned how I respond when not fully understanding what I’m learning. I was able to feel how my 3rd grade students felt last year. Even though I would try to individualize my teaching, I know many of my students struggled with the 3rd grade curriculum. I truly believe every teacher should go learn something different and new…
Sometimes we forget how to learn things for the first time. As a teacher, I set in many workshops that built upon each other. Yet, now I am in a classroom, where the teacher speaks primarily in a language I only have bit of knowledge. And I’m learning how to be a student again…
(In addition, my patience for “broken English speakers” is growing – for I know I only have a part of the whole Spanish language; so I guess I am living as a “broken Spanish speaker.”)
If you ever want to take Spanish in Costa Rica, I highly recommend
EPHIFANIA SCHOOL in San Jose!!
