There are many ways in which you can escape learning and speaking more Spanish than you want to, even in a Spanish speaking country. While everything in class is always ‘EN ESPANOL’ (that is our teacher, Maria-Illena, yelling at us if we cheat and whisper to each other something in English), on any ‘pausa’ at Spanish school, everyone talks to each other in English and Claire and I cheat and always talk to each other in English at home. Even the guy at the local coffee shop we run to during our breaks figured out (in 2 seconds) that we speak English, and talks to us in English as a result - even though we put on our best accents to order our hot chocolates, coffees etc.
It is actually rather frustrating. At times when you want to speak Spanish to practice someone replies to you in English, and when you really need to speak Spanish you can’t find the words fast enough. Grrrrrr.
We definitely haven’t got the full benefit of our lessons as a result, however we do understand a lot more now when people talk to us which is really good… whether we can reply fast enough is another question. It can take a good 5 seconds for us to conjugate the right verb into the right tense, by which time the moment has usually passed.
The best Spanish lessons I’ve had so far are not at LatinoAmericano. They are from a four foot tall 7 year old, named Thelma. She belongs to the owners of our hostel. Better yet, she speaks absolutely no English besides ‘Good morning, how are you?’ She loves to play Barbies, show you all her makeup and has absolutely no qualms about correcting your Spanish. It is a whole lot less intimidating talking to a 7 year old and she keeps you on your toes. She will break into random stories, such as the Emperor’s New Clothes, entirely in Spanish without warning. We had to pull out the dictionary to figure out what an ‘emporador’ was, thinking that it couldn’t surely be the same thing. We sit there jotting down words she says to look up later. You really have to listen hard to her as well because she speaks so quickly. However, like any good teacher, if you ask her to slow down, she will, to a snails pace, and will annunciate every word. (Though I must admit that I do cheat and sometimes speak to her in French, which she is also fluent in).
Spanish lessons with Thelma start everyday around 2pm, when she hears us come through the front door, and last for the next 4 hours or so when we have built up enough courage to kick her out of our room. Though I must admit to sneakily coming through the front door in the hope that she won’t hear us so we can have an hour or two to get our homework done. One afternoon, I had to physically remove her when it was siesta time and she wouldn’t leave. She insisted that I come and get her when we had woken up. Thelma was later spotted by one of the hostel guests calling our names outside our window when we hadn’t emerged 2 hours later. It seems we have made a new friend.
We play barbies, do puzzles, and make up stories – last time I was an ant that was eaten by the hostel cat ‘Michi.’ On Saturday, ‘Cleo’ (how she pronounces ‘Claire’) and I spent a good 6 hours with her. She corrected our homework – ‘es nosotras, no es nosotros porque ellas son chicas’ – from which I conjured images of our teacher asking us whether a 7 year old had written our homework – and made bracelets with us. You learn the words for the most random of things that you wouldn’t be taught at school – ants, flies, monsters. The imagination and energy of Thelma is amazing – assisted slightly by the Coke Zero we gave her…
Definitely the best, and cheapest Spanish lessons ever.
Thank you Thelma!
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