I just wrapped up two weeks of Spanish class and am slowly feeling more comfortable using my limited vocabulary. I've definitely lowered my expectations of fluency, but I'm pleased with my ability to have fairly complex one-on-one conversations with Oaxaqueños. I even did a decent job explaining the electoral college in Spanish the other day. (Response: silence. Then, "no es muy democrático, ¿no?")
I've been spending one hour a day in an intercambio with a young Oaxacan woman, speaking English for half an hour and Spanish for the second half. She is studying to become an English teacher here in Oaxaca, which has presented me with a perfect opportunity to learn more about the teachers' union and public education here in Oaxaca. I'm fascinated, and so glad that my Spanish is decent enough to dig a little deeper into local issues.
In general, I do fine carrying on one-on-one conversations, but I'd really like to be able to understand exchanges between two native speakers (i.e. eavesdrop). Unfortunately, I'm not confident that will happen on this trip.
I do appreciate the solid foundation I got from my high school Spanish teacher, though. Her voice has been running through my head pretty regularly over the last couple of weeks, and I find that I don't have problems with many of the grammatical concepts that some of the other students struggle with. Sure, my vocabulary is extremely limited and I'm slow to speak, but I can conjugate verbs with no major problems. Fortunately, Spanish speakers aren't hard to find in the States, and I'm sure I can find opportunities to practice once I come home.
Off to catch the night bus to Puerto Escondido now...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment