Mi Último Día de Clase

Today was my last day of class.  Over the course of the past three weeks, my Spanish has improved immensely; however, I am still clumsy when speaking. Over the past few days I have thought about how I can maintain and build off of what I have learned. In the States, the easiest things to do is to seek out opportunities to speak with native Spanish speakers and watch movies in Spanish with English subtitles (my language training wheels/security blanket). In preparation for this trip to Madrid, I watched Mexican soccer games on Univision.  It helped a little. It was very easy to do this with World Cup qualifiers going on.

My Spanish grammar teacher, Laura, is very clever.  One example of this is how she presented a Chupa Chups to me today. Towards the end of the lesson, she asked us what things are inventions from Spain. We went around the room guessing (apparently espadrilles are from Italy), and she told us that a wringing mop bucket, a fregona, is a Spanish creation as well as Chupa Chups. She shared with us that the design on the wrapper is by Salvador Dali, and then gave it to me.

This was extremely thoughtful, especially because people in these classes are so transient.  Receiving something uniquely Spanish from my Spanish teacher was a special moment for me. Gracias, Laura!

The culture and history of Spain is also very different from that of the States.  In the US, there aren't any royal palaces. Catholicism isn't nearly as ubiquitous where I live. One of the norms of class is to go around sharing what we did the day before, what we plan on doing that afternoon or the weekend, and so on -- very good speaking and listening practice. When Celeste and I went to the Palacio Real a week or so ago, I shared with the class that it was amazing and breathtaking, and I couldn't help but think about how so much money went into creating and maintaining this way of living and governing whilst people outside of the walls were starving. She replied (in Spanish, of course), "Isn't it the same as today?" or something along those lines. I didn't think of it that way, but it is so true regardless of time or place. There will always be those who have, and those who don't regardless of governmental structure.

Being in class with teachers like Laura and Julia helped me think about my craft as a teacher and how I can better accommodate my students that start mid-year, that are English-language learners and how to best meet their needs, and how to balance working with students at different levels and not neglect those who aren't immediately being helped. Being on the other side of the desk for three weeks was an extremely humbling experience.  I am grateful for this opportunity to learn from these two teachers as well as my classmates. Muchisisismos gracias!

 My class: Tony from Austria, Matt from LA, John from Manchester, Carol from The Netherlands, Julia and  Laura, our teachers, Camila from Sao Paulo, Ploy from Bangkok, me, and Jae from Atlanta. A very diverse group!

-dorothy