Hoy terminé mis clases de español…Pasé 300 horas en mis clases este semestre! Aunque ya había aprendido español antes de venir a Ecuador, no recordaba mucho….
Today I ended my Spanish classes… I spent 300 hours in classes this semester! Even though I had already learned Spanish before coming to Ecuador, I didn’t remember a lot. I’ve always had a lot of difficulty learning the language back in high school, and knew immersing myself would be both a challenge and a new approach to learning. My Spanish school made us take a placement exam which helped gauge our initial level of Spanish. Shamelessly, having not taken any classes in a while, I was placed in the beginner level. We started the semester talking about what our names were, describing our hometowns, and our families. Since then, I have talked about complex issues such as Affirmative Action in college admissions, environmental justice, religion, gender, racial identity, and of course my beloved topic of air pollution. The levels are based off the Common European and American Framework of References for Languages-CEFRL: (A1-beginner, A2-elementary, B1-intermediate, B2- upper intermediate, C1-advanced, C2-proficient). Now, I am in C1, which has been a long journey. Though I will certainly tell you I am nowhere close to being confident in speaking Spanish fluently with Ecuadorians, in all the years I have taken Spanish (3.5!) I have never been at the level I am right now. If you asked me how I felt about learning Spanish back in high school, I would have told you I absolutely hated it, I just wasn’t good with languages. Well, after this program I have decided to hopefully minor in Spanish, something I would have never predicted! I knew being farther than a train ride away from home was going to be tough, but being tossed in a country that speaks a completely different language is an added challenge. So, here’s to a cheesy selfie in my host family’s house capturing a sigh of relief; I did it! In a week from now my study abroad program will be over, and I’ll be guiding my family through Quito.
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