I must say that the first day has been a stressful day. I have never had to go out to a store and out and about and not know the language around me. Going to the grocery store was a very stressful experience, not only because I am not fluent in Spanish but also because of the currency exchange. There were people that did speak English because we are in a tourist area but not everyone did. Then when I finally found food that I wanted to buy, I did not know what was too expensive or a decent price. We also did not know how much money to bring with us so we did not know if we were going to have enough for what we needed. So going through the store and trying to calculate the exchange rate was difficult. Being in this situation put me in the shoes of a student coming to a new country and not knowing the language. They must feel lost, confused, and very frustrated. I think this experience will help me in my future teaching career because I will know what it feels to not understand and to feel lost in a sense. This experience will allow me to have great patience with ESL students in my future.
Even with taking Spanish eight years throughout middle school and high school you lose it when you have not spoke it in years. We had our first Spanish class today and it took some time to catch on again and find that lost information in my brain. Our teacher is from Spain and she is very understanding and helpful. We learned some basic conversation words and sayings which will help us get around and speak to people at stores and our house. I think the best way to learn is to speak it as much as possible, even if you are not correct the first time. Because we are here to teach English we will not be speaking Spanish in the school, so it is our job to speak it and practice it elsewhere!
I am excited and nervous for the days to come, but I know there are many great experiences waiting for me!
Even with taking Spanish eight years throughout middle school and high school you lose it when you have not spoke it in years. We had our first Spanish class today and it took some time to catch on again and find that lost information in my brain. Our teacher is from Spain and she is very understanding and helpful. We learned some basic conversation words and sayings which will help us get around and speak to people at stores and our house. I think the best way to learn is to speak it as much as possible, even if you are not correct the first time. Because we are here to teach English we will not be speaking Spanish in the school, so it is our job to speak it and practice it elsewhere!
I am excited and nervous for the days to come, but I know there are many great experiences waiting for me!