language

Day 417: Banana Spanish School: a cooking lesson

Banana Spanish School was our third, and last school of our Spanish studies between Peru and Ecuador. Even though I liked Banana Spanish School, I was disappointed with my second week and I have to admit that despite loving the owners/teachers of the school. Our second set of lessons at Sundown Inn (outside of Canoa) were a complete disappointment. That being said, my favorite school was San Blas Spanish School in Cusco, Peru. However, we ended on a super positive note, joining in a cooking class (it was basically a well delegated preparation of one meal for all of us to eat together) where we learned how to make ceviche (with boiled chicken instead of fish).

Our classes at Banana Spanish School were one on one, which reaffirmed my preference of small group classes. I also realized that I need more structure in my lessons. For example, I like following a book because I feel like it allows me to monitor my progress better than learning willy nilly grammar lessons and random lists of vocabulary. Another thing: I need homework. If I don’t have homework, I’m less likely to study after class. Even if it’s just one worksheet, it’s better than nothing. It will force me to practice later and tap into that section of my brain that will otherwise be turned off until class the following morning.

I wish I would have given this some thought. For some reason I naively thought that learning Spanish in South America would be similar to when I studied French in France… or Italian in Italy… or even the few classes of Czech in the Czech Republic. All of these other language classes offered books to follow and there were specific lists of vocabulary that were to be practiced with the given speaking practice assignments and then homework. It was all very similar to how I taught English in Korea. But for some reason, learning Spanish in South America- especially when it was one-on-one was quite different. I’m glad I spent a month learning a new language, but I couldn’t help compare my previous experiences and I felt I got more out of the more structured settings. So, if you’re planning on studying Spanish in South America… perhaps give more thought than I did to the different teaching styles and one-on-one vs. classes and even ask about the structure and homework and general teaching style before you sign up!

I loved my first teacher’s style, and I loved my second teacher’s patience and ability to help me carry on a conversation in Español… but for our second week at Banana Spanish School, my lessons were held in a communal area that was well traveled by other students, and often interrupted by a ringing phone or doorbell. I was so distracted to the point I felt like my progress halted. It pains me to admit this, because I truly liked the instructors, but I would simply recommend only taking lessons here if you make sure you can have lessons in a private room. And (even more painful for me to suggest, yet with the best intentions) request a teacher who is not one of the owners of the school. Because when it comes down to it, a teacher cannot be answering phones, the door, discussing class times with a future student, or even monitoring and grading another (future) student’s test simultaneous to trying to teach me Spanish!

Day 400: Canoa’s “downtown”

Spanish was starting to turn into someone getting paid to read a grammar book to me. It made me a little nervous, but being a former language teacher myself, I planned on asking for some more conversation the next day and studied all afternoon except for the couple of hours Andrew and I closed our books and walked into Canoa for some snacks. We went into a corner market in search of popcorn kernels, and discovered ‘popcorn’ is not a universal word. The poor girl looked at me repeating “corn?” like she had never heard of it before.

“Maize… con pop pop pop pop pop” I tried again.

“Ohhh canguil” She answered with a smile, and quickly retrieved a small bag of popcorn kernels from under a pile of bags of rice.

Obviously, I have more studying to do. 

Day 399: a room with a view in Canoa

You know what’s nice? Waking up in a room with a view in Canoa, and being able to walk out of your door to said view (above). We joined some new friends for breakfast, met our newest Spanish teachers, and got to work. This time around, Andrew and I were learning one-on-one with different teachers on the beach. It’s my first time learning a language like this, that is, if you don’t count my failed attempts to study Korean with friends in coffee shops… I was a bit apprehensive about it, but Luis (my teacher for the week) was nice, and the first day mostly felt like a big review of my week in Cusco. Sundown Inn provides (bootlegged photocopied) books that I was pretty satisfied with from the start. We spent most of the afternoon studying, Andrew in our room, and me in the hammock outside bundled up in the yak wool scarf. 

Day 378: Studying Spanish in Cusco

Oh how I wasn’t looking forward to climbing this steep hill (in a high altitude city) to study Spanish everyday… But, we decided San Blas Spanish School was our best bet for our first round of intensive Spanish lessons, even if it did mean a hike across town before school started. I thought it might be fun for today’s “day in a minute” to film the walk! Also I don’t yet know how to say “I have a blog and I make a short video for each day of our trip around the world! Want to be in it?!” en español. I didn’t think a teacher would be so inclined for some video action first thing on a Monday morning either. Despite the rain, we made it to class on time and found ourselves in separate cozy classrooms (given that I’m a beginner and Andrew is intermediate) for four hours of the morning. While Andrew had four other students in his class, I only had one classmate and a very sweet Peruvian woman for a teacher! I usually enjoy language lessons, but today’s lesson flew by faster than usual (especially given that it was four hours long)! When classes were over for the day, I was really satisfied and looking forward to the week of learning some more español!