First day of school

This door on Avenida Antonia Diaz is covered with leather, with a silver hand knocker and accents.

Nobody warned me that not a single word of English would be uttered in my Spanish class. Even the directions and explanations are in Spanish. The first few minutes I was thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" It´s harder than I expected it to be.

I´m a visual learner: I need to see the words and write them to remember them. But in this class, no such luck. No book is used and the instructor writes the words, only after explaining everything in Spanish, making us pronounce the words - even if we don´t know what they mean - and tossing a football back and forth to each other, while using the words in a sentence.

Only then are we finally allowed to see how the words are spelled. I hate that football tossing bit; it´s distracting. I had lunch with three other students, who expressed similar concerns. All of us expected instructions to be in English, at least in the first day. But no doubt we´ll adapt.

My classmates include a Belgian student, a French wine merchant (who´s just back from ten years in London), an American lawyer, a German student and a Welsh televison producer. I´m the oldest and the only married one! But they all seem interesting and if we make it through the first week with our instructor, we should be fine.

On the plus side, Monday morning the shower in my room had hot water for the first time in four days. And the piped-in music system has finally stopped shutting on and off! Progress!

Comments

[Claude]

Yes of course Tara how long you''ll be spain ? And after are you going back Paris ?
Alot of kisses By
XO

[susan]

Bravo! agua caliente!
I will reserve my educational critique until the end of the course :-)
However.....if you can make it through almost a week of no hot water, you damn well have what it takes to ace this language no matter what methods they might use...it's about your strong determination...but then, you already knew that :-)
xo

[kristen]

Oh and that door is incredible, leather and silver oh my!

[kristen]

I hate gimmicks, hate them. Which is why the cantor who married us hated me, because I wouldn't allow his gimmicky schtick to prevail!
I'm proud of you for doing this class Tara, I would have been in the bathroom crying I'm sure. The best part of it all is that you'll be conversant in espanol before long and glad for this experience.

xo

[bella]

Oh, Tara, that does sound very intense! Like with all things, I'm sure it'll get easier as it goes along. I hope.
Yay for hot water! How is the weather in Seville right now?

[Di]

My learning style is similar to yours, I endured Nederlands 1.1 and 1.2 completely immersed. I stopped over winter in fear of a complete depression ... on the bright side, you're in stunning Spain and your classmates sound interesting. :)

[rach]

I would struggle with learning this way too. Hope it improves in the next few weeks. Interesting people to be with though, much room for thought provoking discussions?

[Alina Popescu]

This sounds like an interesting way of learning. I think I'd have the same issues though, as I need to see and write down new words when starting to learn a foreign language.

[Laura]

Progress is good news! The French immersion programs i've taken were the same as yours---not one tiny mot of English or we were fined! The football thing would drive me batty, too--not something that would happen in a French class, do you think ;D? But your narrative is classic and compelling___beautiful protagonist encounters obstacle after obstacle on a long journey, but persists and is transformed and is, in the end, triumphant! When you meet the Wife of Bath, give her my love :D. ( Great photo, btw.)

[tinker]

Sending you mucho good thoughts, mi amiga! You are so brave! I hope after this first rough day, it will just get easier and easier though for you.
xo

[The Bold Soul]

Ah the joys of immersion learning. I've not done it myself (maybe when I decide to take on Italian someday) but I can imagine it will be frustrating at first. Then it will start to get better. Supposedly it's the fastest way to learn a new language. Like teaching you to swim by just throwing you into the deep end of the pool.

Bon courage!

[Mike]

The adults I have known that have gone through immersion almost all came out with a very good grasp of conversational speech and the ability to understand spoken language much, much better. That being said their spelling and in some cases reading was not so improved. At the end of the time, it will be a great jump start though to start really building on the other aspects of being fluent. Best wishes!!

[naturegirl]

Your Spanish teacher sounds like the one I had when I decided to take the romantic universal language. I did finish the course but bought myself CD's to listen to as I drove the car.That seemed much better for me to learn by
I "got it" much faster. Perhaps you can learn the dance "Paso Doble'"

[Becca]

My brain hurts just thinking about total immersion in another language! And I agree, the football tossing part just adds more confusion. I think it is probably the fastest and best way to learn the language, but it's not the most user friendly.

Once again, though, I am inspired by your initiative and spirit. You'll be speaking like a native in no time :)

[Kim G.]

Tara - sounds like an adventure! I'm sure that you will get the hang of it soon. At least you're all in the same boat learning together. Enjoy the time!

[Tammy]

Wow! That's learning the hard way! I'm happy you have friends to commiserate with and they sound so interesting ;) Woohoo! Hot shower! No more camping in Spain. LOL

XXOO

[Catherine]

Sounds difficult, but I'm sure it will get easier. The instructions should be pretty much the same from day to day, after all. I tend to rely on books, too - too much, I sometimes think.

[deirdre]

You're so brave! I feel in over my head just in the few hours that I'm with my boyfriends family as they flow in and out of English and I try to pick out words in Spanish. I can't imagine being completely immersed. My hat is off to you and your determination to learn.

[AnnieElf]

Wow, total emersion spanish classes. You are definitely going to feel frustrate for a bit but I promise you, for adult learners, it's the best way to learn a language. Our brains aren't wired for easy language learning after a certain age so believe me, at the end of five week, you will be thrilled with the results. Have fun. Annie

[bb]

i hate the idea of being deprived of hot water - bleeugghh!

and good luck with adapting to total immersion (that's in spanish, not hot water ;-))

[Amber]

Ah. I hate little classroom gimmicks like that! I always have. And I hate doing group projects, too. Just leave me alone and let me learn! LOL

You should post some pics of your classmates. and cutie-pies?

:)

[Deborah]

Talk about being thrown in the deep end! Bonne chance, dear Tara!

[awareness]

I'm sitting in my new office with only a sliver for a window that looks out onto some green. But my walls are grey and not decorated yet..............your flamenco descriptions and the photos you have provide simply lit up my imagination and consequently my whole office space. Take it all in Tara and enjoy.......the ups and downs, the surprises and the scary stuff.
BTW.........the Grade 1 French Immersion program at my son's school is similar to your experience........the kids just get thrown right into the language, and it's mostly auditory learning. That's tough for a visual learner.

Bon chance..........I will be back to catch up.

PS. Those two children are absolutely beautiful.

[rel]

Tara,
Are you kidding me?............ Hot water showers and uninterupted music? Why, you're living in the lap of luxury! Just kiddin'.
It' always nice to start the first day of school on a positive note.

The technique does seem a tad odd. I'm guessing that they (teachers) have found this method successful with such a short course.

When my son was in Paris his company hired a tutor for him at his request. At their first meeting she said, "this will be the only time we will speak English in this room." He went on to say, that in the first few sessions there were plenty of pregnant pauses in their dialog. However, now he swears by (not at) the technique.

I think you will do much better than you think right now.

Football tossing..... I have a theory, which can wait--
rel

[AscenderRisesAbove]

My daughter had a similar class; spoken only in Spanish; very overwhelming.
Curious about the football. I wonder if the part of the brain that throws the football is the same part that would be used for recall?

[Sophie]

I hate that football tossing bit -
i was taught that at universtity
recently and immeditely dropped it:)

So....maybe i should fly out there and
join you - ....if you know what i mean:)

and the door is gorgeous - sooo pretty -

and yah!!!!! for hot water and irregular
music intervals...

smiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marilyn]

Wow, that sounds tough! Like you, I'm a visual learner. But I have no doubt you'll stick it out...AND succeed. :)

[Kamsin]

Sounds like you're being exposed to the direct method of language teaching first used by Berlitz. It's supposed to be a better way to learn ie you'll make more progress quicker, but I'm not sure I agree entirely. Learning a new language can be a pretty nerve wracking thing, and the written word and our own language help to lessen the stress. But these are valid well used methods and if you are being taught well the context and visuals ought to be used to help you know what you are saying, so first class the vocab almost certainly should be introductions. Hello my name is..., I'm from ..., I'm a ...etc. So try to rely on the clues beyond the words themselves to help you know what's going on! Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fine!

[miss*R]

if that were me - I would have given up already! brave you for seeing the day out!

[Britt-Arnhild]

How long will you be in Spain Tara? I'm sure you will learn alot as soon as you adapt. I have a dream to go to Rome one day to study Italian. I have a friend who has been going there every year around Easter, and one day I plan to go with her :-)