Friday, November 4, 2011
The Halloween storm of the century
News of the nor'easter reached Spain, http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/30/album/1319991225_352169.html. I was supposed to skype with my parents this past weekend but because of the storm in Connecticut, they had no power, and still have no power. When I was at school this week, many of the teachers asked how my family was because they remembered I was from Connecticut and they had seen on the news that Connecticut was in a state of emergency from the storm. I was sure to remind them that a snow storm this early was very unusual, but I am very happy to be in Spain and have power right now.
I'm back!
After a very long hiatus, I am back! Since I have been teaching for about a month now, I think I can finally fill you all in on my adventures in teaching. The Spanish education system is set up slightly differently from the American system. Obligatory schooling only goes up through what we consider 10th grade. After that students can attend prep school(which is free) to prepare for University, or they can attend a vocational school, or begin working. The way the obligatory schooling is set up is with the primary school which starts at age 3 and goes through 6th grade. Then they have secondary school which they refer to as years 1-4, instead of grades 7-10. I work with years 3-6 in the primary school and years 1-4 in the secondary school, and I'm with each class about one hour a week. Depending on which school I'm in, or what teacher I'm with I have a different role. In the primary school, the English teacher sits in the back of the room and I run the class for an hour. In the secondary schools, I'm more of an assistant in the class and we're still trying to really figure out my role.
In Spain, there is a push to increase the mastery of multiple languages, and many schools have subjects which are taught in Spanish and English. In some schools it's music, in others it's physical education and in my school it's art. I work mostly in the English classes, but I also help in the art class in the secondary school. Fun fact: in Spain, art class also includes geometry. I haven't taken geometry since freshman year of high school, so I'm a little rusty. The students work on problems during the class and the teacher typically walks around the class and answers any of their questions, typically in English. So that's what I am doing as well. And while I can help them understand that regla is a ruler, I'm pretty useless when they ask me how to find the perpendicular line bisector using a protractor. So if nothing else, I am definitely brushing up on my protractor skills and the properties of a triangle.
The English classes in the secondary school can be bit challenging. Being a middle school teacher requires a certain type of personality, and if nothing else my first month has reinforced that it is not a viable career option for me when I return. They can be very talkative and very difficult, so everyday you have no idea what to expect with them. And in Spain, deadlines aren't as strictly enforced as in the US. The first week I was teaching I made a simple powerpoint for the English classes for years one and two in the secondary school about myself. It was very basic with pictures of my family, my house, my school, all in all maybe 8 slides. We told the students they needed to bring in something similar about themselves the next week. Fast forward 4 weeks, we still are not done, in year 2 half of them don't even have it finished yet, and while they presented the majority of them spent more time talking in Spanish. But now I know, this is not something to continue with. Live and learn, right? In year 4 since they have a better grasp of the language, I did a presentation on Connecticut and then in pairs they all picked a state to present on. Because of the way a few holidays fell, we've only had time for two presentations. Both were well done, and I was very impressed with the presentation on Massachusetts since it went into a lot of detail about the state. As I was reading the report they handed in, at first I was very impressed with their almost flawless grammar, but about two sentences in, I realized the grammar was a little too good. Also, I can spot a wikipedia entry a mile away. When I found the English wikipedia entry on Massachusetts, I realized it was word for word what they had handed in. That was a little frustrating.
As frustrated as I get with secondary school, I love working at the primary school! The students all listen to me for the most part and are very well behaved. It's amazing the difference between the students in year six of the primary school and year one in the secondary school. The students in year six are remarkably well behaved, and unlike the students in their first year, they will take the time to struggle through forming an English sentence whereas the others will revert back to Spanish once they get frustrated. I think part of the problem is that the students in year one in the secondary school are more self-conscious now that they are older, and they would rather speak in Spanish than risk making a mistake in English. But, the English teacher at the primary school has told me that her students love me, and they always ask when I will be coming to teach. An even bigger compliment was when she told me that some students who won't participate in her class, participate in mine. It was definitely encouraging to hear that, because I have no teaching experience so sometimes I feel really lost in front of the classroom.
In Spain, there is a push to increase the mastery of multiple languages, and many schools have subjects which are taught in Spanish and English. In some schools it's music, in others it's physical education and in my school it's art. I work mostly in the English classes, but I also help in the art class in the secondary school. Fun fact: in Spain, art class also includes geometry. I haven't taken geometry since freshman year of high school, so I'm a little rusty. The students work on problems during the class and the teacher typically walks around the class and answers any of their questions, typically in English. So that's what I am doing as well. And while I can help them understand that regla is a ruler, I'm pretty useless when they ask me how to find the perpendicular line bisector using a protractor. So if nothing else, I am definitely brushing up on my protractor skills and the properties of a triangle.
The English classes in the secondary school can be bit challenging. Being a middle school teacher requires a certain type of personality, and if nothing else my first month has reinforced that it is not a viable career option for me when I return. They can be very talkative and very difficult, so everyday you have no idea what to expect with them. And in Spain, deadlines aren't as strictly enforced as in the US. The first week I was teaching I made a simple powerpoint for the English classes for years one and two in the secondary school about myself. It was very basic with pictures of my family, my house, my school, all in all maybe 8 slides. We told the students they needed to bring in something similar about themselves the next week. Fast forward 4 weeks, we still are not done, in year 2 half of them don't even have it finished yet, and while they presented the majority of them spent more time talking in Spanish. But now I know, this is not something to continue with. Live and learn, right? In year 4 since they have a better grasp of the language, I did a presentation on Connecticut and then in pairs they all picked a state to present on. Because of the way a few holidays fell, we've only had time for two presentations. Both were well done, and I was very impressed with the presentation on Massachusetts since it went into a lot of detail about the state. As I was reading the report they handed in, at first I was very impressed with their almost flawless grammar, but about two sentences in, I realized the grammar was a little too good. Also, I can spot a wikipedia entry a mile away. When I found the English wikipedia entry on Massachusetts, I realized it was word for word what they had handed in. That was a little frustrating.
As frustrated as I get with secondary school, I love working at the primary school! The students all listen to me for the most part and are very well behaved. It's amazing the difference between the students in year six of the primary school and year one in the secondary school. The students in year six are remarkably well behaved, and unlike the students in their first year, they will take the time to struggle through forming an English sentence whereas the others will revert back to Spanish once they get frustrated. I think part of the problem is that the students in year one in the secondary school are more self-conscious now that they are older, and they would rather speak in Spanish than risk making a mistake in English. But, the English teacher at the primary school has told me that her students love me, and they always ask when I will be coming to teach. An even bigger compliment was when she told me that some students who won't participate in her class, participate in mine. It was definitely encouraging to hear that, because I have no teaching experience so sometimes I feel really lost in front of the classroom.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Speaking Spanish
I have realized that although I am understanding more and more Spanish as the days pass, there is one little problem. I understand about 90% of what people are saying, but the other 10% is the important specifics. So I may respond that yes I would love to see a certain movie without knowing I had committed to a specific time and date. I guess this is what happens when you keep smiling and nodding to almost everything someone says. I finally have started asking people to repeat something if I don't understand all of it.
There are also many grammar rules which after learning in high school I managed to avoid having to use in college. In my Spanish literature classes, I didn't have to remember the proper way to describe the weather, which was fine with me since I never really could remember the proper way to say it's hot or it's cold. Or when to use por as opposed to para. Or the appropriate way to say "4 years ago I did...." Or the difference between ser and estar. But since they are actually phrases I use frequently as opposed to the literary vocabulary I was using, it's forcing me to actually learn them once and for all.
When I've talked to the English teachers at the school, we've agreed that the grammar rules for verbs are harder in Spanish than in English because there are so many tenses, and each pronoun has a different conjugation. But in English, the pronunciation is harder. In Spanish the rules of pronunciation are pretty cut and dry, but in English "e" could be pronounced a variety of different ways depending on the context. For example, take the word "bear." The -ear is pronounced as the word "air" whereas if you remove the b from "bear," "ear" is pronounced "eer" similar to "beer". Very confusing.
The last thing which is tripping me up, is the pronoun vosotros. Vosotros is the informal plural "you" which is a pronoun that is only used in Spain. Because it is specific to Spain and not used in any other part of the Spanish speaking world, when we learned verb conjugation in middle school the teachers always said not to worry about the conjugation because we would likely never need it. To address a large group, the formal plural "you" was always used. Unfortunately, I am now in Spain, and the most appropriate way to address the students is vosotros and I am very shaky as to the proper conjugation. Another thing that I will have to learn as I go. After only a little over 2 weeks, I can tell that I have already improved and I am more comfortable speaking Spanish. When I come back, I will be completely fluent!
There are also many grammar rules which after learning in high school I managed to avoid having to use in college. In my Spanish literature classes, I didn't have to remember the proper way to describe the weather, which was fine with me since I never really could remember the proper way to say it's hot or it's cold. Or when to use por as opposed to para. Or the appropriate way to say "4 years ago I did...." Or the difference between ser and estar. But since they are actually phrases I use frequently as opposed to the literary vocabulary I was using, it's forcing me to actually learn them once and for all.
When I've talked to the English teachers at the school, we've agreed that the grammar rules for verbs are harder in Spanish than in English because there are so many tenses, and each pronoun has a different conjugation. But in English, the pronunciation is harder. In Spanish the rules of pronunciation are pretty cut and dry, but in English "e" could be pronounced a variety of different ways depending on the context. For example, take the word "bear." The -ear is pronounced as the word "air" whereas if you remove the b from "bear," "ear" is pronounced "eer" similar to "beer". Very confusing.
The last thing which is tripping me up, is the pronoun vosotros. Vosotros is the informal plural "you" which is a pronoun that is only used in Spain. Because it is specific to Spain and not used in any other part of the Spanish speaking world, when we learned verb conjugation in middle school the teachers always said not to worry about the conjugation because we would likely never need it. To address a large group, the formal plural "you" was always used. Unfortunately, I am now in Spain, and the most appropriate way to address the students is vosotros and I am very shaky as to the proper conjugation. Another thing that I will have to learn as I go. After only a little over 2 weeks, I can tell that I have already improved and I am more comfortable speaking Spanish. When I come back, I will be completely fluent!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Strike 2!
I've been working in the school this week, but only in the secondary school, not in the primary school. I've mostly been observing classes, helping with dialogue practice in class and discussing with the teachers what we can do during the rest of the year. On Wednesday, I helped in a 7th grade English class and a 10th grade English class. In the seventh grade class I introduced myself and answered any questions they had about me or America. They wanted to know if I lived near Barack Obama, or if I had ever met anyone famous, unfortunately since the answer to both was no, I think they were a little disappointed. The younger class was much more excited and willing to speak English, but hopefully as time goes by the older students will be more excited about speaking English.
Today when I got to school, I was informed there was another strike, but this time it was the students who were on strike! It seemed so strange that there is a union for the students and they can decide to go on strike! A lot of the students still came in today, but there were a few classes where the entire class was missing. Although it was unfortunate that there wasn't too much to do, it did mean more time to enjoy my cafe con leche. I asked the teachers what the students wanted from the strike, since it seemed so foreign to me that the students could go on strike. The teachers joked that their demands were to sleep in and not go to school. I tried to look online but I'm not quite sure what it is that the students want. Hopefully the strikes will stop soon and we will be able to continue without being interrupted by a new strike every week!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Climate of Laxe
The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately I never really know what the temperature is because everything is in Celsius and I don’t know the conversion to Fahrenheit, but it’s been pretty hot here. Last Thursday I was able to walk along the beach in the sun with my feet in the water. This weekend when I was in Pontevedra, I only packed cooler weather clothes and I was dying walking around in jeans and a t-shirt. Both Monday and Tuesday this week I was able to walk along the beach for a few hours after work, and there have been people in the water and lying out in the sun. I feel like I’m in the tropics! The teachers have all been telling me that this is not at all typical of Laxe. By this point in the year, Laxe is typically gray, cold and rainy. I’m hoping the weather will stay like this for a while, but Galicia is actually struggling with a drought so they really need the rain. Maybe it will just rain in the interior of Galicia where they have the drought, and I can have the sun and the warm for a little longer!
First day of school
Monday was my first day of school and it went pretty well. For starters, since I only work about 12 hours a week I don’t have to go in until 10:30. And it’s about a 20 minute walk from my apartment, but it’s all right along the beach! I’ll have every Friday off, and a lot of the national holidays in Spain are Mondays, which will be great for travelling. I sat in on a few English classes to get a feel for the structure and the level of ability. It was interesting, since it’s pretty much structured the same way French or Spanish classes are structured in America. There’s a textbook with exercises, a workbook and an accompanying cd with pre-recorded dialogue for listening exercises. However, their resources are all from the UK so the language is a little different. For example, we would say “Do you have a brother?” “Yes, I have a brother.” An exercise in the book was “Have you got a brother?” “Yes, I have got a brother.” I have to stop myself from thinking that that is incorrect English, otherwise I’ll correct them and they will all be confused. Another exchange was “Are you keen on sport?” Keen is a word I don’t think many Americans have used, unless they went abroad to Australia and things were heaps keen. Also on the cd, the actors are all from the UK or Ireland so I have to work a little to understand their accents. I’m worried that if these are the accents the students are used to hearing they won’t understand me. I’m sure I’ll have much more to say about my time at school after I’ve been working for a little bit.
A weekend in Pontevedra
After a few day hiatus I’m back, and with so much to say. This weekend one of the teachers invited me to go with her to visit her family in Pontevedra. The city of Pontevedra is a city of the Pontevedra region of Galicia. It’s a little under 2 hours from Laxe, and a pretty drive. I was really lucky that Patricia invited me to go with her because there’s not much happening in Laxe on the weekend, especially since the majority of the teachers who live in Laxe go away for the weekend.
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| Old mill |
We arrived in Pontevedra Friday afternoon, and Patricia showed me around the city of Pontevedra. Like most cities in Spain, there is an older part which is always my favorite part to see! I think I took a picture of almost every old building we walked past, and I’ll be putting those up on Facebook soon. We walked through the city with two of Patricia’s friends from home who had plenty of questions about America. One of their questions was about how healthcare worked in the US, and other than that it’s changing (which they already knew), I really didn’t know any specifics. I should probably brush up on my current events so that I don’t sound incompetent if anyone else has questions. On Saturday Patricia took me sightseeing a few places near Pontevedra. We went to a state park with a little river and waterfalls.
There were even a few really old mills along the river which was neat. She showed me more old mills along another river, some of which were in ruins, and others which people had turned into summer homes. In the afternoon we went to see some beaches 20 minutes from Pontevedra. They were pretty crowded for October 1st. While Spain is a more moderate climate than the US in general, the north of Spain is not tropical like the south.
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| Converted mill |
Patricia’s family was very kind to take me in this weekend. They were very generous, particularly in making sure I had plenty to eat. There was always so much food, and they were always insisting I eat more. In Spain, the main meal of the day is the midday meal. They explained to me that it’s better for the digestion to have the largest meal in the middle of the day, so you have more time to digest before going to bed. That’s why they have the siesta, so they can rest after their large meal and then go back to work. I am just solving the mysteries of Spanish customs right and left! But I have not yet adjusted to this new schedule of eating. I am used to a smaller meal midway through the day and a larger meal in the evening. When I have a large lunch, I have trouble eating very much in the evening. But that is not a valid excuse in Spain. I try everything and I eat a fair amount of everything, but the Spanish women are similar to Italian women “Eat, eat. You’ve barely eaten anything! Are you sure you don’t want a seventh helping? I can make more food.” I’ve started preparing for meals the same way I believe an Olympic athlete probably prepares for a competition. I try to go in with a game plan so that the food doesn’t defeat me. By the time I return from Spain, you’ll all see me taking on Man v. Food. Anyway, the food this weekend was delicious! If I could eat nothing but churros con chocolate, tortilla Espanola and jamon serrano for the rest of my life, I would probably be content. Although I probably wouldn’t end up living that long on account of the cholesterol. There was more pulpo (octopus) and it still weirds me out a little that the suckers are on it. Sometimes I picture that the tentacles are going to suction to my esophagus or something, but I eat a little bit every time anyways. I also tried Spanish barbeque. There was grilled chorizo, veal and ribs. The barbecued ribs didn’t have the same barbeque flavor sauce like the US, but it was still very good. And I didn’t come home empty handed, Patricia’s parents sent me with homemade coffee cake as well as lemons and apples they had grown themselves!
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