Today we began the real immersion experience. We started promptly at 8:30 in the morning with four hours of Spanish classes. We had one thirty minute break and finished at 1:00 in the afternoon. The classes really helped in terms of understanding, structure and grammar review. I think by 1:00 most of us in the class felt much more confident in our abilities to communicate in the Spanish language.
After lunch in a local restaurant, we spent the afternoon discussing cultural topics; differences in daily schedules and attitudes about schedules, differences in culinary and gastronomic cultures, a bit about history of the local area and how to survive in the city of Rosario. We finished just a bit after 5:00 this afternoon. It was quite a full day.
Some of my general impressions were that "overwhelmed" seemed to describe how almost the entire group was feeling this morning. Struggling to understand and a bit stressed at how little English was spoken here. I was also impressed with the quality of instruction. We had a different teacher for each two hour session. I questioned one of the directors about this procedure and she confirmed my belief. The different instructors allow for different pronunciations, different teaching styles and different means of communicating what is important. Rather than spending fifty hours of instruction with the same teacher, we will have a variety of four different teachers. I was also pleased that the classes are so small. We are six in each of the two levels, beginner and advanced.
I am also concerned that safety in terms of theft is continually discussed. My host sister commented on what I should and should not carry with me, when I should and should not travel alone. All of what she told me was reiterated by each and every person who spoke with us today. Even the native students said that Rosario is a beautiful city, but you must always be cautious.
Well, I'm off to do my homework. I have a distinct feeling we will have homework every night.
No comments:
Post a Comment