a little talk of spanish

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I realized I hadn't mentioned much about my language learning and/or progress lately. I think examples are the best types of explanations. This morning I reserve a hotel room for a trip I'm taking next week. I was able to ask if there were rooms available, if all of the activities were still functioning after the earthquake (horseback riding, hiking), how close the hotel was to the bus stop for the bus from san jose, how much a taxi would cost, if they took traveler's checks, and many other things. This conversation took place completely in Spanish. I then went to the mall to find a bank to exchange some traveler's checks. I asked a guard where the bank was, and he gave me complicated directions, which I was able to follow. The bank clerk asked me if I wanted dollars or colones, told me there was a fee to change the checks, he asked me where I was staying in San Jose, when I saw him planning to give me all denominations in 10, I asked if he could give me a few 5's instead, and I went on my way.


It's interactions like this that are really exciting. When you can function on your own without too much help in a foreign country speaking a completely foreign language, it's exhilarating. I have plenty of really hard moments, especially when I'm nervous and need to think quickly (I can never speak correctly in these situations), but I try to find encouragement in the moments like these...the little successes!

The above picture are the notes that were taken while I was teaching my "host" sister how to knit...completely in Spanish. It's really complicated when you try to speak in a different language while doing an activity that has very specific names for different things...like knitting. All of the various stitches have names, as does "yarn", "needles" etc. It was funny, and we came up with our own language as you can see above. We described things with "holes" and "bumps" which I did know the words for. Ultimately, it was a success, and only took about 2 hours :).

Adios, for now.