Espanol with elemadrid
I have now completed my first week of Spanish classes at “elemadrid” and I love it! But don't worry...I will resist the urge to start peppering my blog entries with my fancy new Spanish words.
I have come to the sad realization that I have LOST most of my Spanish knowledge from high school and college. I am back to Advanced Beginner, if that. I find it very frustrating when the words WILL NOT come out of my mouth correctly or when my mind draws a complete blank when asked a question. But...it’s still a lot of fun, and I think I have progressed a lot in just the last week.
Below are my three teachers (photos taken from the elemadrid website). First I have two hours of Spanish grammar with Lola, then two hours of conversational Spanish with Marta. Elena heads up the activities, so I have her three days a week in the afternoons.
MY FELLOW LEARNERS
I chose elemadrid because the school is geared toward adult learners. I did NOT want to be surrounded by a Let’s Go toting, party-thru-Europe crowd of early twenty-somethings. And sure enough, our class if made up of outgoing and interesting adult learners.
There’s just four of us at the Advanced Beginner level: Wilmoed, a 32 year old geologist from Holland; Tom, a 60-something artist from Canada; and Vilmer, a 60s something business consultant from Germany. Our group gets along great, and we often spend time together outside of class. At left is a photo of Welmoud buying us some chocolate treats one afternoon while we were strolling around the Chueca neighborhood.
ACTIVITIES
I also chose elemadrid for all the extra afternoon “practice sessions”, which are ideal for testing and improving general comprehension. They are already my favorite part of my studies.
Tuesdays:
‘Spain Today’ lectures
Last week we had a lecture, in Spanish, about the terrorist Basque group called ETA—their history, the present threat, etc… Fascinating (and fun because I understood about 75% of it!)
Wednesdays:
Interview with a local professional
This last week a local judge came to talk about the legal system in Spain (although…I admit I didn’t attend it.)
Thursdays:
“Discover Madrid” field trips
This week we walked around the historic center of Madrid with Elena, the practice session teacher. (See picture above.) As with everything at elemadrid, it was entirely in Spanish and full of new words. By the end of the two hours, my brain was tired but my spirits were high because I'd understood the majority of what she had explained.(Comprehension is easiest for me. Actually forming intelligent sentences...that's a long ways off).
Hey…that’s me. It’s a photo of me, here on my website. It’s photographic proof that I actually am here in Spain. It’s not a particularly interesting shot, but I’m including it here for those of you that have inquired as to why I never have photos of myself on the site.
Truthfully, it's only because I just don’t think to have them taken. But, on this day Welmoud suggested that she take a picture of me with my camera, so...here’s me standing in front of a statue of some Spanish dude in the middle of yet another historic plaza.
I have come to the sad realization that I have LOST most of my Spanish knowledge from high school and college. I am back to Advanced Beginner, if that. I find it very frustrating when the words WILL NOT come out of my mouth correctly or when my mind draws a complete blank when asked a question. But...it’s still a lot of fun, and I think I have progressed a lot in just the last week.
Below are my three teachers (photos taken from the elemadrid website). First I have two hours of Spanish grammar with Lola, then two hours of conversational Spanish with Marta. Elena heads up the activities, so I have her three days a week in the afternoons.
MY FELLOW LEARNERS
I chose elemadrid because the school is geared toward adult learners. I did NOT want to be surrounded by a Let’s Go toting, party-thru-Europe crowd of early twenty-somethings. And sure enough, our class if made up of outgoing and interesting adult learners. There’s just four of us at the Advanced Beginner level: Wilmoed, a 32 year old geologist from Holland; Tom, a 60-something artist from Canada; and Vilmer, a 60s something business consultant from Germany. Our group gets along great, and we often spend time together outside of class. At left is a photo of Welmoud buying us some chocolate treats one afternoon while we were strolling around the Chueca neighborhood.
ACTIVITIESI also chose elemadrid for all the extra afternoon “practice sessions”, which are ideal for testing and improving general comprehension. They are already my favorite part of my studies.
Tuesdays:
‘Spain Today’ lectures
Last week we had a lecture, in Spanish, about the terrorist Basque group called ETA—their history, the present threat, etc… Fascinating (and fun because I understood about 75% of it!)
Wednesdays:
Interview with a local professional
This last week a local judge came to talk about the legal system in Spain (although…I admit I didn’t attend it.)
Thursdays: “Discover Madrid” field trips
This week we walked around the historic center of Madrid with Elena, the practice session teacher. (See picture above.) As with everything at elemadrid, it was entirely in Spanish and full of new words. By the end of the two hours, my brain was tired but my spirits were high because I'd understood the majority of what she had explained.(Comprehension is easiest for me. Actually forming intelligent sentences...that's a long ways off).
Hey…that’s me. It’s a photo of me, here on my website. It’s photographic proof that I actually am here in Spain. It’s not a particularly interesting shot, but I’m including it here for those of you that have inquired as to why I never have photos of myself on the site.
Truthfully, it's only because I just don’t think to have them taken. But, on this day Welmoud suggested that she take a picture of me with my camera, so...here’s me standing in front of a statue of some Spanish dude in the middle of yet another historic plaza.