Language Intensive

As many of you know, we just finished a 3 week language intensive in Madrid.  I remember what it was like when we were going to class all day, when we first came.  It was really tough... I was exhausted and could hardly do more than "the basics" of cooking and laundry, etc.  I expected it to be much the same this time, since language actually makes you physically tired... not to mention mentally! :)  I was thankful that it wasn't quite as tiring this time.  I'm sure culture shock has a lot to do with it before, AND the fact that our kids were not experiencing culture shock! :)  It was much more peaceful this time.   Thank you, Lord! 

I'll write more later about our family's experiences during these three weeks, but for now here's the update on the language...

We started our first day of class with a placement test.  It was helpful to know where we placed, but we realized quite clearly that our speaking levels were much lower than our grammar levels.  Apparently it's normal, but the difficult part is that we needed to advance in both grammar and speaking levels.  Initially, they had us stop the placement test at a certain level, based on our speaking level.  But once they found out that we had been studying a higher grammar level, they had us take the next level up.  We both did better on it than they expected, so it was a little difficult for placement.

They initially placed me in the level that I tested at grammatically, but I was very nervous about it.  I asked for a lower level (b/c I knew my speaking level was much lower), but she really encouraged me to try.  So I did.  Oh, man... talk about stressful!  I was familiar with the grammar that they were doing, but the entire class was speaking... and not just speaking, but debating!  Any of you who know me well, know that debating is NOT comfortable for me... in English!... let alone in Spanish.  It's just my personality, but any kind of debate puts me on edge, even when it's just for fun.  On top of that, they were all at a much, much higher speaking level than I was.  The whole setting was extremely stressful for me.  There were only 6 of us in the class, and the teachers (who were both very, very good) made sure that every single person spoke, which is exactly what a good teacher does!  But, for me, I wanted to sink through the floor.  I kept thinking that Wes would probably love the class. :)

Before the end of the day, I had debated about what would've happened if Hitler had been killed early on.  I debated about abortion, women's rights, family and religion.   I was beyond stressed by the end of the day, so I looked into the next level down.  The director tried again to convince me to stay in the class, but I didn't want to be frazzled like that for three weeks.  Unfortunately,  they didn't really have anything that fit me well. 

Wes was in a class that had two guys teaching it, which was really good for him.  For some reason, in our area, it's much easier to understand women then men.  Maybe that's everywhere???  I have no idea.  I decided to try his class, and ended up staying in there for the week (since I had already paid and couldn't get my money back.)  BUT, I knew after the first day that I wanted something different.  Wes loves people and the movement and variety of a class, so he was pretty content with his class.  For me, I wanted to be more focused and intent on working on my weaknesses. 

One of our friends there had a tutor with over 25 years experience who was available.  I was thrilled, and God worked out all the details for transportation and the price, too.  For me, it was a GREAT time of learning.  Marisa was really good at explaining things and very knowledgeable as to how to utilize our time.  As we talked, she could pick up on my weaknesses, and she would incorporate that in the next day's studying.  I had one hour less a day than Wes, so after tutoring finished, I walked to a little cafe and studied what we had just gone over.  It was the perfect situation for me, b/c I need long focused times for studying.  I think I had a broad foundation before we started, but I now have a much deeper grasp of it all... AND I've had much more practice speaking, so hopefully that will help!

We will see... I know we both still need to learn much more before we take the exam in November, but I think this was helpful to get us focused in the right direction.  It was lots of work, but very gratifying in the end!... definitely a blessing.