Aero: Brianna Cardina – Costa Rica 2016 – Learning the Language
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project
…
English is my first language. In middle school and high school I took French. I learned how to speak Japanese during my year abroad. But I barely knew Spanish going in to this exchange. Before our travel to Costa Rica, I took Spanish 101 – That’s where I learned hellos and goodbyes, numbers, days of the month, and simple vocabulary. However it could only get me so far. When we arrived in Costa Rica, I couldn’t read most of the signs. I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. Even though the words around me made no sense, it was cool to hear a foreign language everywhere I went. The Spanish language sounded pretty to me: It flowed very fast, there were different sounds that aren’t in the English language, and the intonation of the sentences made it all the more interesting!
…
…
Brianna Cardina
Our two professors spoke fluent Spanish. They helped to translate and communicate during our adventures. However, we were with them for only half the day. The other half of the day, we were either on our own or with our host families. There were two host families, four students per house. One of the families spoke very good English – and I wasn’t in that house! I was with a host grandmother that spoke no English, and a host father that could understand the most basic of sentences. It was hard to communicate when it was just us and our host grandmother! (Especially when we tried to tell them that the hot water wasn’t working… so we all had cold showers for a week! They realized it right before we left. It was funny!) However that did not stop us from enjoying each other’s company. When we first met, Pablo (Our host father) and her gave us hugs! When we would wake up, she always said good mornings and patted us on the shoulder. She would say things to us in Spanish that we wouldn’t understand, but it always felt positive coming from her. With Pablo, he didn’t understand everything that we said, but he rolled with it and enjoyed hearing about our days! Actions speak louder than words, and I found that to be the truest on this trip. Jamming to music in the car with Pablo, helping Mayra with the dirty dishes (Our host grandmother), and sitting outside in front of the house at night with the family! We grew close to these people within two weeks without knowing the most basics of Spanish.
When it came to being in the city, it was a bit easier. At souvenir shops and restaurants, the cashiers spoke enough English for us to understand. We didn’t chat with too many of the locals, since we were usually busy sight-seeing or chatting with each other. However, we did pick up some words and phrases to help us along! Of course, “Please & Thank You” were the big ones! A new phrase that I learned was “Hasta Luego”, which meant “See you later!” Also, I learned the word for “Toad” from a security guard at a resort we went to. It’s so random, but that’s how I picked up phrases – from chatting with the people I met and the conversations I’ve heard.
For learning the language, being immersed in the conversation is better than reading from any book. You’ll learn faster, pick up the things the book doesn’t teach you, and you make good friends. Of course, it’s frustrating and embarrassing at times when you flub or can’t get the point across, but what we get out of it in the end is something priceless.
Brianna Cardina
LEAF Contributor
ML@FLCC: Costa Rica 2016
…
