¿Hablas español?
This block I am taking my first-ever language course at CC: Elementary Spanish! A lot of prospective students I talk to (one of my jobs in talking on the phone to people who are thinking of applying or who have applied, maybe you’ve talked to me!) are curious about what it’s like to take a language on the block plan. Well, its fabulous!
A typical day in my Spanish class goes like this: our professor walks in with a big smile on her face and asks us how we are doing. We spend about an hour practicing basic phrases and vocab, and then another hour playing games or doing group work. One of my favorite games is the one where we divide into teams and then run to the whiteboard and back and write whatever the professor tells us (like numbers from 1-100) and then she declares one of us el ganador! (The winner). I’ve never had such an enthusiastic and energetic teacher. At the end of the class, we might watch Muzzy (a language learning cartoon which I’ve fallen in love with) or a video of people speaking to each other in Spanish.
The block plan is very interesting for languages because you can concentrate completely on the language — before, in high school, my French homework was never top priority and was usually done in twenty minutes at the end of the night, after my math and physics homework. However, I’m really enjoying being able to concentrate completely on Spanish, and I feel like I’m learning a ton. I went for a run with a friend down by Memorial creek today and stopped to stretch by a sign about flash floods. As I was stretching, I realized I could read most of the sign, which was printed in Spanish and English. It was a great feeling — it’s only been three weeks!
I’m planning on taking a Spanish language adjunct class so I don’t forget what I’ve learned after I finish this introductory class. An adjunct is a class for a quarter credit which runs for a whole semester, and usually meets twice a week for about an hour. CC offers lots of types of adjuncts — I’m also taking a great modern dance adjunct and a French adjunct right now.
Finally, exciting news… I heard recently that CC has approved two new Spanish language study abroad programs in Chile and Argentina which is perfect!
http://www.coloradocollege.edu/international/study_abroad/pTable_southA.asp
I was always planning on studying abroad while I was at CC, and what better place than South America?
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