You may know about my challenges with learning the French language so being a sucker for punishment I also decided there was room in my brain for another language – Spanish! A lot of people had warned us that travelling around South America mostly comes with difficulties in the lingo department. If you don’t have a basic command of Spanish (or Portuguese in Brazil) then your trip could be a whole lot harder.
In school it was either French or German GCSEs and even after quite a few holidays in Spain I still didn’t know my hola from my adios so we decided it would be worthwhile to learn the basics whilst being completely immersed in a Spanish speaking country, as well as hopefully help us out of any tight spaces for the rest of our trip.
My friend had recommended Academa Latino Americana as they have offices in Peru, Bolivia and Equador plus they give the option of learning Spanish with volunteering in the local community.
Being an unashamed geek I was really excited to go back to school and had my notepad and highlighters at the ready. The groups are kept really small (we are just three in our class) so it means you have to speak even if that is pretty terrifying. I will admit that I got teary in my first lesson as it was so hard! It was more frustration tears that fell especially as the teachers only speak Spanish in the lessons but it also made me determined to try my best and soak up as much as I could.
As well as inhaling vocabulary as if the words are going to disappear we have also been tested on grammar including irregular verbs. I now realise how my students must have felt! I told you how cold Cusco gets… well in the class this morning our teacher gave the lesson wearing her coat, we had blankets on our shivering knees and she was wearing thick gloves to write on the board! Hardcore school days!
We went to the local market yesterday to stock up on fresh veg (a real money saver) and a gnarled toothed stall holder spoke to us and I could understand! I wanted to kiss him I was so chuffed with our progress but I didn’t because of the whole random strange old man thing. I also didn’t realise how much I had subconsciously picked up from watching Breaking Bad thanks los pollos hermandos!
Have you ever learnt a foreign language in this way before?
