Aero: Meghan Kelly – Costa Rica 2013 – Life at School
Aero: Meghan Kelly – Costa Rica 2013 – Life at School
Aero: Meghan Kelly – Costa Rica 2013 – Life at School
Life at school was an intimidating, scary, but also wonderful experience. We started off the first day in Alajuela in a tiny classroom with no windows and a max of maybe 11 desks. In the United States schools stand by themselves and aren’t neighbored by shops and restaurants. The school we attended was just on the main street and it blended in with the rest of the buildings on the street.
On the first day of school I chose to sit in the very first seat which meant I was always called on first to answer a question. Going into this experience my Spanish was very rusty so this made me extremely nervous. In the classroom our professor spoke only Spanish so we had to understand and communicate back with the correct Spanish. I found this very challenging and frustrating at times. I was lucky to be able to understand what she was asking of us most of the time but sometimes I need to ask for help. This experience made me very independent in learning another language. In Spanish classes in high school our teachers would try and only speak Spanish but most of the time they would happily translate for you but this was not the case in Alajuela.
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The best thing for me about Spanish class in Costa Rica is that we didn’t just stay in the classroom for all of our classes. We were lucky enough to be able to have classes and different places. One place that we had class was at Zoo Ave and it was the coolest thing. Ana our professor was a wonderful teacher and she was super nice which made bettering my Spanish a fun task. When we first got there Ana walked around the zoo with us while we looked at all of the incredible animals. The whole way she would help us to translate the Spanish signs and also help us learn the names of all the animals in Spanish. This interactive learning was much more efficient for me then just sitting in a classroom. She had us sit in a circle on the lawn in the middle of the zoo to have class. We proceeded to play a game with different Spanish words. The whole time there were peacocks walking up to us and all around us. This made it an unforgettable experience. Ana incorporated our surroundings into a Spanish lesson which was awesome.
Schools in the US fall into such a daily routine that sometimes that can hinder students learning. Getting out into the community and experiencing things first hand is so important. I don’t think we ever get too old for learning this way. By getting out into the central park for one of our classes I was able to communicate with Spanish speakers and learn through experience. The very last day of class was held at the local country club. We sat out on our towels while we learned and it was such a beautiful day. This made all of us excited to learn!
The coolest thing about being in Costa Rica was not only learning the Spanish language but also by teaching the people around us English. On many occasions whether it was with our host families or with Ana we were teaching them English words that they didn’t know. One that I remember well was in class one day Ana instructed us to break into groups then each group got a different food group. My group got fruits, we were to make cards with the names of all the fruits we could think of in Spanish then we were instructed to write the fruit in English on the back of the same card. After completing the activity we read them to her out loud. When my group got to pomegranate she stopped me and asked how we say it in English. I helped her to pronounce it correctly and finally by the end of the trip after she asked several random times to remind her how to say it she got it. It felt good for me to not only be learning Spanish but also to be helping them be able to speak and understand the English language.
My main concern before going to this great country was my fear of being unable to speak and understand the language. I was afraid that the language barrier would hinder me from being successful in communicating with those around me. There were many situations where I found myself embarrassed and unable to understand. Even though these situations aroused I still realized by the end of the trip how incredibly much I have learned about the Spanish language since the first day of my trip. I thank Ana for being such a wonderful teacher, for emerging us straight into the culture, and for not letting us just sit inside of the four walls of a classroom.
– Meghan Kelly
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