Aero: Katie Heubusch – Costa Rica 2014 – Life at School
Aero: Katie Heubusch – Costa Rica 2014 – Life at School
Aero: Katie Heubusch – Costa Rica 2014 – Life at School
Katie Heubusch
School in Costa Rica was definitely different than any Spanish class I have ever taken. At first glance, the school looked like a store. I was confused when we walked into the small building that had an office, restrooms, and four-five classrooms at the most. I was really nervous at first, especially considering I had not taken a Spanish class in four years. It was surprisingly comfortable however. Our teacher Joximy was a young, beautiful, and pleasingly laid-back instructor. She had this certain way about her that gave a calming presence to the class. It was nice waking up with pep in the step knowing full well I was headed to a classroom. She spoke English very well, and had excellent strategies to teach us beginning Spanish.
Costa Rica 2014 Photo Gallery
The first day was slow, but I already was able to process a lot of information. We talked about ourselves only using Spanish. It was difficult because the students were put in an awkward situation when we sat in front of the class describing ourselves. It was fairly embarrassing for me because it was clear I knew the least Spanish out of the group, but slowly and surely the blunders became more comfortable. We had games that kept on forcing us to speak by ourselves, and explain to other students about different aspects of our lives. Forcing me out of my comfort zone was beginning to be a good thing, and I never thought before that it would be. She focused very heavily on communication, which was great, because my host father didn’t understand a lick of English. Joximy’s favorite activity was to give us Spanish songs, and we would have to fill lyrics in blank spots. This was a great way to learn Spanish because it forced us to listen to Spanish at a very fluent pace, and teach us common vocabulary at the same time. We were also given small tests, which were in my opinion fantastic because it showed how we had improved. I was shocked at how much I was learning from class in such a short amount of time, but even more surprised about how much I was learning just co-existing among the Spanish.
Learn More: Study abroad with Modern Languages @ FLCC: Costa Rica!
– Katie Heubusch
The LEAF Project
www.leaflanguages.org
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