Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Learning the Language

Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Learning the Language
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Aero: Mary Erb – Costa Rica 2015 – Learning the Language

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Mary Erb

My biggest concern about staying in a foreign land for a while was easily the language barrier. I was glad I at least had a bit of Spanish experience, but I knew the range and scope of Spanish conversations I could have would be a bit limited. My first time actually having to navigate through a situation speaking the language was with a woman that was looking over my papers when we first landed in Costa Rica. When I approached her I remember enthusiastically saying “Hi!” and her replying “Hola”, which quickly alerted me to the reality of where I was. Not long after when we met our host families, I saw that mine was able to get along well in English, but they still addressed us often in Spanish which I knew would be very helpful for the furthering of my abilities. When we arrived to the home my two classmates and I would be staying, we saw that the two sons Daniel and Marco spoke English very well, which was comforting but also one of the first glaring reflections of the mediocrity of language education and lack of focus on language there is in the states compared to most other places.

The next morning at the farmers market is where we learned some helpful phrases such as, “Que es?” and “Cuanto questa?” It is also where I had one of my only considerable misunderstandings as a result of a faulty attempt at Spanish. I had a cup I wanted to throw away, and instead of saying, “Donde esta la basura?” I must have said, “Donde esta el bano?” or something of the sort because my host mother Marta directed me to the bathroom instead. I quickly realized the mix-up and promptly explained myself in English, which was followed by a helpful language lesson. A few days later, the day of activities with the girls at Hogar Siembra might have been the most beneficial day in terms of language learning. From the very beginning when I started painting nails I had the opportunity to exercise my use of practical Spanish and also ask things like what their favorite music, movie, book was, etc. They knew we were working on our Spanish and they were also very keen on practicing their English. They were all so patient, and there would be times when people from both groups would try to say something but get flustered and laugh and turn to someone for help. Unquestionably, my most intense and rigorous lesson I received throughout the trip was given to me there by a young lady named Luz. For at least forty five minutes she would say and then have me repeat every syllable from an array of words. Her patience was remarkable and I was astounded by her calm and cool way of instructing like she had been doing it for years. The portion of the lesson in which she helped me practice rolling my R’s was fun and very amusing to the other girls. After all of this, she requested that I repeat all of the words I was able to recall from our lesson.

ML@FLCC Costa Rica
2015 Flickr Gallery

In all, my trip was full of very generous people like Luz giving me helpful tips and lessons for remembrance and pronunciation. In terms of getting around the city and in different establishments I found that I didn’t have to try too hard to remember most of the practical things I had learned. There were more than a few people we met along the way whom we said we would see again, and who when we did, we would have improved speaking skills. I must say, attaining a better handle on the language and communicating is one of the driving incentives I will have to go back to Costa Rica. The limited interactions I was able to have with people due to the language barrier were still so rich, and I look forward to going back and experiencing the people even deeper once my abilities improve.

Mary Erb
LEAF Contributor