Submitted by Amanda Flagg on the 2016 summer session program in Salamanca, Spain sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
While studying abroad in Salamanca, I am taking 3 courses:
- Lengua Española (2 hours; Ana Sanro)
- Cultura Española (1 hour; Professor Yeray González Plasencia)
- SPAN 455: Devils, Witches, and Students: Literature of Salamanca (an hour and 15; Dr. Cristina Guardiola-Griffiths)
Although I am taking 3 courses here, it gets counted as 2 for UD.
- SPAN 455: Devils, Witches, and Students: Literature of Salamanca
- SPAN 308: Culture of Spain (UD course offering)
- The average of my culture and grammar classes
UD will average my first 3 credit hours and list one grade as SPAN 308. The grammar course is designed to strengthen my grammar so that I can perform better in my Culture Class. I like it because it gives me the opportunity to meet more students and be taught by different teachers. All students taking courses here are required to take a grammar course and have to take a placement exam the day before classes start. This is so that you are put into a class that will challenge you, but also refresh your memory of grammar rules. The levels range from 1-6 with 1 being the best position you could be in since it represents a complete fluency of the Spanish language. According to our Proctor, native speakers or students who utilize their Spanish everyday are placed here. Drum roll please… I tested into Level 2! I was and still am so excited and happy.
While abroad, I have the opportunity to be taught by three extremely passionate professors and teachers. My grammar teacher, Ana, is one of the most patient people I have ever met. This patience combined with her enthusiasm sets her apart from any other grammar teacher I’ve ever had. Only after sitting in her class for two days, I told my parents about her. I thought sitting in class for two hours and learning about grammar rules would be boring, but I haven’t felt that way yet and I believe that is entirely because of her. Before our mid-term, we played on a website called Kahoot, to prepare. We signed in on our phones and she had the questions on the projector screen and we just “buzzed in.” I think when you make a confusing topic fun, it is easier to learn and understand.
One of the students in my class is named Elliot and he is blind. Unlike most schools in the United States, he was not ‘pulled out’ of class and placed in a room with other students who may be struggling for different reasons. Instead, Ana will teach a concept and while talking, walk over to him and repeat it. When learning about the difference between hand and facial gestures in the United States and Spain, she said the word, and made the gesture on her own face so that we could watch. Then I watched in awe as she took Elliot’s hand and mimicked the movements on her own face. Then, while still holding his hand, had him do it to himself. The fear of germs, or not being able to come in contact with a student was not a second thought. It was a beautiful interaction to see and it made enough of an impact on me that I wanted to share it with anyone who cared to listen, including a few of the other students on this program.
During the second week, one of the directors of the school came in and told Elliot that he would be moved to the first floor and be taught by someone else. She did not give him an option. Although understanding, the way the director spoke to him did not hold the same genuineness that Ana talked with. I sat in my seat and watched as his face dropped and listened as he explained, in perfect Spanish, why he did not feel comfortable leaving. He felt comfortable in our class. It is clear that I’m not the only one that Ana left an impact on.
For my culture class, we focus on the cultural aspects of Spain (food, history, festivals, types of dance, etc.) My professor, Yeray González Plasencia makes the class extremely enjoyable by being so passionate about the subject and by incorporating fun activities into the curriculum. We played Jeopardy the first two days to learn the important facts about Spain. It was also genuinely enjoyable to learn because it was stuff that we were experiencing first-hand. One of the assignments we had to do was to do a presentation about any topic we wanted. We had the option to do an in-class presentation or work in small groups and film a video outside of class to show in class. I decided to do the latter and we focused on food and compared typical dishes, serving size, and meal times in Spain, to the United States and Portugal (one of the weekend excursions I did). It was fun because we met outside of class, ate together and filmed our video. It was another way to submerge ourselves in the culture. When each of us were presenting, Yeray laughed and smiled and you could tell just how proud of us he was. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like that before. I think sometimes in the stress and monotonous days in a classroom, it is easy for teachers to want to go through the motions. That was never the case in his classroom and I’ve gained an even greater appreciation for having the opportunity to learn.
Although, I cannot generalize this to all teachers in the United States or here, I do think and have noticed that there is a cultural divide between academics and curriculum between countries. In the United States, students get caught up in performing well and to do so, focus on memorization of facts and figures and do not have the opportunity to step back and appreciate what they are learning. In the same way, these teachers spew out the information continuously and can sometimes lack the support, passion or creative and fun ways of delivering it that their colleagues may have.
I know I have said it before, but I will say it again. I feel so honored to have the opportunity to be taught Spanish in Spain, and by some of the greatest teachers I have had the chance to learn from. I will take their passion for the language and their patient attitudes home with me and continue to exemplify them in my everyday life.