I’ve finished the very intensive Spanish course program which is organized by Diverbo, called Pueblo Español, and it’s time to tell the world about my experience. The short answer is…I had an excellent time, and it is an incredible Spanish conversation course.
Instead of writing a daily journal type of post, I’m going to cover the highlights of the week. If you’re interested in improving your Spanish by doing an immersion program, then you’ll want to continue reading.
Guess what time it is? It is time for us to give you an update on what we have been doing to improve Speaking Spanish!
Remember our initial post, back at the end of November, with the goal of making it to Pueblo Español? Oh and the video update of us speaking Spanish at the end of February? Well, here we are at the end of May and we figured you were due another update of our progress. Yes, there is another video. As much as we don’t like speaking Spanish on video, it kind of needs to be done. Thanks to all of you for asking questions and holding us accountable.
Greetings One & All! Since our initial post, we’ve been getting a lot of encouragement, and a bunch of questions about our progress on learning Spanish. So consider this an update!
It’s 2am, the bar is closing down and the young female manager has walked the last patron out the door. She walks to the back of the restaurant and lets in the cleaning crew. The crew consists of 4 cleaners from Mexico and they don’t speak a word of English, the manager doesn’t speak any Spanish. This is a daily routine and over time they learn to communicate. Through spending a little time playing charades, she was able to get them to understand, and after several weeks, the communication became a mix of charades and Spanish words. This was her first taste of speaking Spanish. Ah, the beauty of learning new things.
As a person who has tried learning a foreign language, it can be tough and slow-going. There are a lot of different courses out there, but I’ve recently been exposed to a new offering called FluentU. FluentU really provides a novel way to learn a foreign language online.
So many people think that learning Spanish is next to impossible, but we don’t agree. We have found some tools that have made a world of difference for us while living in Spain. No, we aren’t perfect and please don’t give me a written spelling test! Our goal was two-pronged: 1. To immerse the kids, so they can become fluent. 2. Parents will do our best to improve our Spanish and communicate our needs. ( I will confess I had high hopes of becoming fluent) Continue reading
Well the school year is officially over! Anya (8 yrs – 3rd grade) and Lars (11 yrs – 5th grade) both completed a full year attending school in Spain. When we first planned this adventure, one of our top priority goals was for the kids to learn how to speak Spanish. This was going to be accomplished by having the kids study abroad and attend a Spanish elementary school. Of course we weren’t going to just ship them off to study, we were going as a family. It was also a priority for Alan and I to improve our skills with the Spanish language.
Continue reading
I can’t believe it has been nearly a year since we made the move to live in Spain. This week marks the end of the first full school year for the kids. Education in Spain has been a bit different for us, but we have no doubt the kids have learned far more than what text books alone could teach them. They have experienced many different things and have been exposed to many different nationalities and languages, attending their Spanish public school. Continue reading
As promised, here is my journal of The Purple Chicken 14 Day Challenge – Days 8-14.
Day 8 – Well, today the universe brought me plenty of opportunity for Spanish. For instance, having an argument with the Civil Guard (traffic police). <!–more–> Alan and I were on our way out for an exploration drive today, my turn to drive. We were just about to enter the highway, when the exploration took a detour. Two Civil Guards standing beside their motorcycles, on the side of the road, hand signaled for us to pull over. Continue reading