Forums > Specific Focus > Learning Spanish

misslyn

Aug 31, 2006, 9:27 AM

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"Learning Spanish is Essential"

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Here's a link to an article from EscapeArtist.com written by the owners of Eco-Lingua Costa Maya in Chetumal (Jonna may know the school, having recently been in Chetumal) about the importance of learning Spanish in the appropriate setting. I think they make some interesting points, particularly about selecting a town that is not overrun by tourists.

http://www.escapeartist.com/.../Spanish_School.html

What have your experiences been with language schools? Do you prefer private classes or group? Did you stay with a host family or in a hotel/apartment? Which do you think gives you the most opportunity to integrate into the community?

Lyn

sfmacaws

Aug 31, 2006, 12:33 PM

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Re: [misslyn] "Learning Spanish is Essential"

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I have spent a good deal of time in Chetumal but I haven't gone to or looked at language schools there, thanks for an interesting article.

I've found that 2 weeks is about the max I can do in school. My motivation slips and I start skipping the homework and hitting the snooze button more. Plus, I need to get out and use what I've learned before stuffing any more into the brain. That's if I'm going every day, when in Akumal I have a tutor that I see once or twice a week and I can do that for much longer before I start mentally skipping class.

I think they are right though about where you take the classes. I find that in Akumal, where so many speak english, the absorbtion rate is lower. Akumal, actually the whole Riviera Maya from Cancun to Tulum, is one of those areas of Mexico where people live for years and never learn any spanish. It's an area where many locals speak much better english than a beginners spanish and they will switch to english with most foreigners. It's an accomplishment at times to have someone reply to you in spanish. It means you are speaking well enough that they don't find it easier to speak english than decipher your spanish.

I don't think you need to be in a small, out of the way spot to really get the immersion experience. I found that the class size, individual attention and opportunity to immerse in the language was excellent in Guadalajara. Most spanish schools in Mexico are also english schools - sounds like this one in Chetumal is also - and some of the best conversations were in the lounge with foreign and local students from all over.

Chetumal though would be a great spot for immersion study. It's a beautiful city with a lot of interesting things nearby. I've always spoken spanish there but I imagine that there are a lot of people who speak at least rudimentary english in the area. More because of the proximity of Belize and shoppers coming across the border and also because it is the capitol of QRoo and lots of people there go north to work in the tourist industry. I'll certainly check out this school when we are back there this winter.

I prefer small classes, one or two students, to either private or large groups. I learn from listening to others learn as well. I found that in conversational classes it is easier to keep the conversation going, to get involved in it, if there is more than just you and the teacher.

I'm not a 'stay with host family' kind of person. I need more privacy and I'm not very chipper early in the morning and chipper people just irritate me. I have lived with families in Mexico in my youth and have vivid memories of many hours of what I called "milling around". I also remember that they thought I was unfriendly if I stayed in my room and I'm just not up to all that sociability. Remnants of being an only child perhaps.

Having a reason to get out and talk to people is key I think to absorbing the language quicker. Perhaps related to my natural instinct to hole up in my room, I need to have a reason that I have to go out and communicate. More even than speaking a lot, learning to "hear" the new language is key. That only happens if you are surrounded by it and paying attention. Either having business to take care of - even shopping - or spending time with people you want to communicate with so that you really make an effort to understand is important. You have to fight the impulse to kind of check out of conversations because it is difficult to keep working at understanding. Although there were other problems involved with it, I think that spending a month last winter in Guatemala with 3 other people who spoke little to no spanish really helped my spanish a lot. I had to pay attention, not just when I was the one they were speaking to but to what was said to everyone because they would then turn to me with a blank look. Not being able to 'space out' and let conversations turn into white noise was good but tiring.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

misslyn

Aug 31, 2006, 2:16 PM

Post #3 of 5 (2951 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] "Learning Spanish is Essential"

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Great response, Jonna, thanks! Sounds like we have a lot in common. I did a month at school in Cuernavaca once and it was too much by far. The host family was very nice, don't get me wrong. They spoke hardly any English but were taking classes so we all practiced over dinner. Near the end of my stay I made a list of the things I missed -- privacy and quiet and my own schedule, and not sharing a bathroom with the teenage daughter :>) Probably it is an only child thing - I like my space too. Next time I'll look for a hotel room or apartment to rent.

There wasn't much conversation in our group as we were at so many different levels. I know how Spanish-speakers feel now, waiting patiently for me to process a question and formulate an answer. Patience is not my strong suit, needs work. And here I always thought they were switching to English out of courtesy!

Excellent point about the attention span and giving yourself some time to absorb what you've learned before you try to cram in some more. A good argument for my plan to study a week or two, then travel for a while. Listening is really important for me. Unfortunately I don't get a lot of practice in the real world, just TV, radio and movies right now. God willing I'll be retired in a couple of years and ready to hit the road.

Lyn

sfmacaws

Aug 31, 2006, 2:33 PM

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Re: [misslyn] "Learning Spanish is Essential"

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Getting your "ear" tuned to spanish is so important and I don't hear it mentioned much. It used to take me a couple of weeks when entering Mexico in the fall before I started understanding more of what I heard. Now, it takes a lot less time but it is still an effect I notice. Recently I was in a grocery store up here and realized that I was understanding a conversation nearby that was in spanish. For me, that's exciting because it is so easy for me to tune out things that are difficult to understand. A big problem for me has been staying in the moment and really working at listening all the time. So, for it to happen automatically and while I am NOB and don't have my spanish "ears" on yet, I was happy. Of course, as soon as I started actively listening to their conversation, they got into more slang and I lost it. Oh well, it was a breakthrough of sorts.

I remember one time Mimi and I stopped at a Denny's or something after we crossed the border. While eating I mentioned that it was a drag to have to understand the conversations going on around us, it's much more relaxing when it is just white noise <G>

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

raferguson

Aug 31, 2006, 5:21 PM

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Re: [misslyn] "Learning Spanish is Essential"

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I have never had the luxury of a month or more in Mexico studying
Spanish, but I have learned to speak it pretty well. I can carry
on telephone conversations no problem, etc. I know that some
people who have done the immersion thing don't learn that much,
although it can be effective.

I used a wide range of techniques to improve my Spanish, including
travel in Mexico, listening to the radio, watching television,
reading magazines and newspapers, taking evening classes, and
having a tutor. The most effective way to learn, in my experience,
is also the most expensive; hire a tutor for an hour a week.
I usually have paid $15 or $20 per hour for a college student
from a spanish-speaking country. I find one by calling the
Spanish department of the local university, as they keep a list
of students who want to make extra money tutoring. You will
usually be mentally exhausted at the end of the hour, but
you will have learned. You can't hide in the back row when
you are the only student, you will have to speak, and your
tutor will clean up your worst pronunciations and gramatical
errors in short order.

I suggest starting with a night class or two, and then hiring
a tutor. You will learn. It may take a few years to
learn enough to speak well, but you will be speaking enough to
get by in less than a year. It's practice, practice, practice,
unless you are gifted in languages, which I am not. I started
learning Spanish at age 30.

Some of the habits that I use to improve and retain foreign languages include: I read a little from a Spanish and French paper every morning on the internet. My CD changer always has two CDs in Spanish, two in French, and two in English. My car radio has local Spanish stations programmed into some of the buttons. I watch Spanish and French TV. It all helps.

I started learning French after age 45, and successfully used
the same strategies that I used to learn Spanish. Of course,
there are fewer opportunities to use French than Spanish in
the USA, and France is so far away and so expensive that I
have only been there once. Not surprisingly, my French is not
nearly as good as my Spanish, but is adequate for asking for
directions, understanding the answer, etc.

I do think that it is advantageous to need to speak Spanish, either because you are living in the country, traveling in the country, etc. I think that it is advantageous, if you are in a group, to be the best Spanish speaker, as you will have to perform. The further away you are from English speakers the better.

Richard Ferguson

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com