"Poco a poco"

     February is a bit of a slow month here in Madrid, just going to school, teaching my private lessons and enjoying the sunshine.  The good thing about having some down time is I’ve been able to greatly improve my Spanish skills.  This is mainly due to the help of my wonderful co-teachers, but also because of more confidence.  This sounds obvious, but after a few times of trying to speak and not being able to get your point across, it begins to make you question how you even communicate in your OWN language.

     I’ve found that I had trouble making the language switch happen quickly when caught off guard.  Again this sounds normal, but this is even when someone used to ask me questions I am familiar with!  If I was grading papers or thinking to myself and someone (my roommate, another Spanish teacher, etc.) would greet me, ask how I’m doing or what I’m up too, I would draw a blank.  Easy questions I respond to every day, but if I’m caught off guard?  It took me a good 30 seconds to process what I was hearing and spit an answer back out.    30 seconds doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is when someone is looking at you expectantly.  Everyone remembers the feeling of being called on in class by the teacher when you didn’t know the answer.   It’s like that.  But you know the answer!!!  And you’ve said it many times before!!!  It‘s frustrating and upsetting when you don’t respond quick enough, and you can’t help but feel stupid.  A few times, Spanish speaking teachers would just greet me with an accented “Hello”  because I had been slow to respond a few too many times. 

     NO MORE!  I have been working to speak in Spanish consistently with my teachers and making my Spanish roommate talk to me more.  I also have been paying much more attention when people are talking around me.  I have picked up sayings, held conversations in Spanish whenever I could, and listened to a whole presentation  on Nutrition (granted it was for a 6^th grade Spanish level, but still).  I followed the lecture completely and even had an answer when the guest speaker accidentally called on me, assuming I was a spanish speaker.  Instead of zoning out when I missed a section or someone starts talking too fast, I really try to catch what they’re saying, and even ask them to stop and explain a word, instead of nodding my head, smiling, hoping they don’t ask any questions.      

Of course, constantly translating in your head can be quite exhausting and I still am very prone to zoning out.  I’ve been told over and over again that learning a new language is full of plateaus.  You escalate quickly, but then spend a period of time at the same level and feel like you aren’t increasing.  I am excited to share with you that last week was a period of escalating! 

     Things coming up, a trip to Rome for Italy, hopefully seeing my Uncle perform over in the UK and this weekend is Carnival!  Or Spain’s version of Mardi Gras…

Madrileña

Oh Madrid…

I just finished up another week at school, and am amazed at how quickly the days fly by.  Now it’s February!  I have a new roommate named Tracy from Colorado who is very nice and sweet.  She went to Boulder College and has blonde, same as my cousin Georgia.  When we’re out together, her blonde hair gets us unwanted attention.  I do feel bad for people here in this program, whether they speak good Spanish or not, who stick out visually.  You are treated differently before you even open your mouth, in positive and negative ways.    Some Spaniards are extremely helpful and compassionate when you run into a language barrier.  Others quickly dismiss you and get visibly frustrated when you stumble over words.  We all know this can be the case in the United States too…something I will be more aware of when I return home. 

That being said I reallllllllllyyyy miss customer service from home.  For the most part I have totally adjusted to life here and don’t struggle day-to-day.  However, trying to get something done/completed/accomplished?  Good luck.  Maybe the economic crisis isn’t helping, but they rarely go the extra step to help you in pretty much ANY public interaction.  At restaurants, after they take your order, good luck trying to flag them down for salt, pepper, a drink refill…they come by give you the check and leave.  Just remember not to eat out if you’re ever in a hurry. 

In other news, school is still going well and I am getting closer to my students!  My favorite class is definitely Art of course, and English is my least.  I enjoy reading aloud to the class and answering vocabulary questions.  I hate dealing with grammar, the English teacher I work with takes care of grammar.  It reminds me of how frustrating it was as a kid, all the rules that there were exceptions too!  Anyways, there have been a couple of instances where I have been trying to explain to my students a vocabulary word they don’t understand.  It takes me a minute or two in order to think about how to explain what the actual definition is!  (Disclaimer:  I do not stand in the front of the class and go “Ummmm, like, I don’t know how to explain it!  We just say that” and look like a clueless young-adult.)  I was trying to explain to my students what a “Tantrum,” was when it came up in a reading, so I said “When a person freaks out.”  They continued to give me a questioning look and say, “What does ‘freak out’ mean?”  I was stumped for a few seconds thinking, “How do I explain this, To ‘freak out?’”  This isn’t the hardest word I’ve come across to explain, but slang words always throw me for a loop, because I assume they understand what I’m saying.  I paused and said, “For example, when someone throws a fit?”  Continued blank stares.  It came down to me demonstrating by stamping my feet…they enjoyed this charade.  I also tried to explain “Viral Video” when we were talking about YouTube.  Fun fact, In spanish, calling someone a “Freak” is our definition of nerdy.

                My weekends consist of hanging out with the friends that I’ve made and trying to speak Spanish with the locals.  One of the friends I’ve made is extremely outgoing and probably invites one person from every country to his parties.  I’ve met people from Holland, Australia, Scotland, England, Estonia and Greece.  The first time I met “The Greeks,” I assumed they were Spaniards and tried to listen to their conversation between each other.  They were speaking so fast and I couldn’t understand a word!  I felt upset for a minute because I thought my Spanish had improved to where I can at least understand what someone is talking about!  I was then formally introduced and they spoke in Spanish to me, I asked them how they had been able to speak Spanish so fast and well to each other.  They replied, “We weren’t speaking Spanish, we were speaking Greek.”  PHEW!  No wonder I couldn’t understand anythinggg they were saying.  We fondly call these parties a “United Nations” gathering.