Some last comments about Spain (while I'm still here) for those of you thinking about studying abroad through AYA Spain.
Will I be able to communicate with my limited Spanish?
Well, that depends, really. I came here with the lowest level of Spanish that you can be allowed to come here with, I just got out of 202 in the fall, and I would have to say that the program should not allow students to come without at least completing either 351 or 352 first. I would -highly- recommend, for those of you looking to come and who have only just completed 202, take either 351 or 352 first. I was completely lost pretty much the entire time I've been here. I can understand a lot of what my teachers say to me, as they often use worksheets or other visual aids to help you follow along, but anyone else... less than 3/4 of what they are saying. That's enough to get the gist, but not enough to hold a conversation. And I've been here four months...
There are six of us in 351. The one girl had lived in Madrid for a year already and knows Spanish perfectly, but BG wouldn't let her test out of 351 and 352, so she was way ahead of us and doesn't count. Another girl seemed to do pretty well. She had a couple of really close friends (that she was basically attached to the entire time) in the program who are at a higher level than her, so she practices with them and has them to help her out if she's struggling at all. But the other four of us... probably not the best idea for us to be here. One word: struggling. There is a guy who knew a few Spaniards from Madrid and he hangs out with them. He has more trouble in class than just talking to Spanish people, but the grades are one of the biggest things your taking away from the experience.
I'm not saying that it's impossible, but I am saying it makes it much harder than they claim. You will not find the classes easier and you will have to work harder to maintain the grades you get at BG. Maybe I'm being dramatic and they will all give me all A's at the end for effort or something, but looking at the syllabus and what they are claiming to expect, much more effort has gone into these classes than I think I would have had to put into 351 or 352 at BG.
Outside of difficulty, how is school, in general?
School is a 30+ minute walk away. And thank God because you need to get some exercise to counter how much food they give you here (well not all the host families, but mine at least... I'll speak more on that later). You won't want to pay for the bus everyday and you'll get used to the walk. No big deal. The school resembles a middle school more than a university. It's a satellite campus and is located far away from most of the Spaniard students. We have a few Spaniards that take classes in the school, not with us, of course, but in general. They will want nothing to do with you and view you mostly as an unavoidable annoyance. I was totally okay with this. I've found the Spanish youth to be far more immature than, well, the American students that study abroad. Just don't be surprised. If you want to find Spanish friends, you'll need to look in the bars, become a regular at a food or coffee spot, or set up an intercambio, which involves randomly emailing people from a list and asking to hang out with them. Most people found one or two intercambios that they really could spend time talking to. I didn't bother. I just wasn't comfortable with the whole thing. If the school had set something up for us, that would have been different. I don't particularly trust the Spanish, you see.
Classes were all held in the same room in hour and half blocks. If you manage to set up your schedule like mine, you can sit in the same seat for 4 1/2 hours straight. It's not as bad as it sounds. The syllabus for a class was typically midterm, final, big presentation, a few written works, giant final project. Not too bad. Except right now when I have two huge projects and finals looming before me. I'm taking four classes, each with 100% possible grade (of course), so 400% possible total. 105% of the 400% is going to be concentrated into tomorrow and Wednesday of this week. And I need to prepare to go home on Friday. If that's not stress, I couldn't tell you what is.
How did your Spanish improve?
My Spanish improved a lot. I picked up all kinds of new vocabulary. I have much less trouble conjugating verbs, still lots, but much less. I can understand far more than I could last semester. Am I nearly fluent? Not even close. In fact, if fluency is your goal, you need to come for the year because it takes about five months being here before you even begin to think, "Hey, I'm getting the hang of this," according to the year students I've spoken with. You spend at least the first three months walking around in a fog and a state of confusion, or trying earnestly and failing most of the time. I was told three weeks and you'd be fine. I still am not fine. I didn't try as hard as I could have. I didn't get an intercambio, I didn't strike up conversations with strangers on the street, our entire group almost outright refused to speak to one another in Spanish, and I barely spoke with my host family. People get frustrated with you quick. Once they've taken nearly two minutes to help you understand a phrase that takes takes less than 15 seconds to say, they tend to say less and less and less the next time. And the accent is nearly impossible. I had to relearn every word I've ever known. I'm not an audio-learner, you see, which is why I'm not a Spanish major or minor. I couldn't even learn a new word unless I tried to keep the basic sound of it in my head and then looked it up to see how it was actually spelled and to clarify the meaning. My Spanish improved a lot, but I could never walk up to a spanish-speaking person on the street and have a decent conversation. It would be filled with me asking them to repeat themselves and them asking me to repeat myself. Too frustrating to think about.
How was your host family?
I was partnered with a graduate student, who is completely fluent in Spanish and very intimidating. I refuse to speak my crappy broken Spanish in front of her, which makes practicing at home almost impossible. My host mom was fantastic. Sweetest Spanish lady ever. A little odd, but she's Spanish... so what can you expect? She didn't clean as much as everyone else's family seemed to. And she only did my laundry every once in awhile. I would -strongly- recommend bringing two weeks worth of underwear as I did. Most students said that their host moms did their laundry every other day. Sometimes I would wait around for awhile. It bothered me on the level that I couldn't control when my laundry was done - I do my own in the US, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I wasn't happy when I put two pairs of jeans in the basket and didn't see either of them for 4 and 1/2 weeks. I was nearly ready to complain when I got them back. Not sure what happened there. The food is terrible, but it's Spanish food. Bland bland bland and full of disgusting things like beans and ham and sausage. I will never eat beans or tuna again in my life. Three + times a week is far too many for such foods. One girl had a family that had a member who was a trained chef, I believe, and she said her food was amazing. Most people claimed it was hit and miss. But don't think that because you don't like the food you are able to not eat it. You can tell them you don't like it, but that's much harder than you would imagine. And you have no control over your portion size, at least not in my house. She gives you a gigantic plate of food and if you don't finish all of it... you must be ill, or upset, or not like her cooking, or maybe you need to go to the doctor... I've gained so much weight because I'm eating well over 3X what I would normally eat in the US.
Some people lost weight. The girl with the chef in the family, one of the guys whose host mom didn't feed him properly (it's looking like she will no longer be given any students, so no worries there) and a few other people that just learned what exercise was in having to walk everywhere. But the vast majority put on a few pounds at least. And then a few of us, me and my roommate included, put on 10+ pounds and are going to have to go home looking far heavier than we did before we came. Embarrassing... I have recently lost the ability to fit into my jeans. I cannot wait to get home and start eating normal portions at decent times. Explain to me why any culture would think it was a good idea to eat a gigantic meal at nearly 10pm, right before you go to bed. It's madness.
That's enough for now, I think.
No comments:
Post a Comment