August 06, 2008
My First Week of Spanish Classes!!!
written by Nicole Allegar on August 06, 2008 at 04:11PM in Traveling
Technically I haven’t finished my first week, but I have been to four classes so far.I will admit it is a struggle to sit through a two and half hour class in Spanish, but I think overall they have gone well.
I definitly stand out in the classes as a foreigner. However after this week of experiencing struggles with everything from the pronunciation of my name on the roll sheet to answering questions in front of the class, I have a new respect for the foreigners that go to school in America.
In my physiotherapy class the professora came into class and immediately started her lecture. Throughout her lecture she kept starring at me; I guessed she was trying to figure out whether or not I knew what she was saying. During the lecture a girl ask the profesora her name, which I could not understand, so I asked her to write it on the board. While she had her backed turned to the class, writing on the board, she said, “This girl is not going to understand anything I am saying.” and then she asked " How is you Spanish?"…Luckly with this professor I could understand almost everything she was saying. I responded with “It’s good, but not perfect.” (the whole “conversation” with her back turned to me)!
Even though this may seem like a small accomplishment to some, I felt like I had passed a test in front of the teacher and the other students…however after class I had mistaken a girl’s question “como te llamas” (what is your name) with “como tomas” (what do you drink)…I know it is an easy one, but in my defense she was holding a Matte cup! All and all the week has been full of successes and mistakes, which is to be expected.
Everyone has been surprisingly nice to me in my classes. It has been nice to see a different side of the Argentines than from what Spencer and I have experienced throughout our Argentine travels.
Everyday I feel more and more at home here. Today at the supermarket someone asked me for my recommendation of laundry soap and another person asked me where the sugar was, so either I am starting to look more comfortable within my surrounding…or I look like I work at CarreFour (the supermarket).
I am looking forward to learning a lot this semester, hopefully by Dec I will understand all my lecture perfectly and be able to participate in class discussions… I have my fingers crossed!
Tags: University, Nicole and University
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I am so proud of you Nicole! You are one brave girl. I know it will all pay off for you. I started to say I couldn’t imagine doing that, but I did the same thing in Holland. There it was an honor when they actually answered back in Dutch!