Se Habla Espanol
When we were in Costa Rica, everyone spoke Spanish.
(Side note: I just re-read that sentence and it is the dumbest thing I’ve ever written. No crap they spoke Spanish…what else would they speak?!?!)
Anyway, I remembered how much trouble I had learning a language in school. In high school, my mom made me take Latin because I wanted to go to law school and she told me that Latin was the root of all language – even legal language. I didn’t learn anything. My Latin teacher was also the football coach, and I’m fairly certain he was randomly assigned to teach Latin. I used to turn tests in to him when I was finished and he would look over it, then whisper to me, “You really aren’t ready to turn this in right now are you???” and I knew that something was majorly wrong. So, I’d go back and fix things and then resubmit. Looking back, he was one of my favorite teachers and I must have learned more than I realized because even today I’m pretty darn good at figuring out what foreign words mean based on their roots.
Unfortunately, Latin did not help me in college when I took Spanish for two semesters because it was required for my major (which was English, in case you’re interested). I failed one semester and barely survived the second semester. Spanish and I have never really gotten along since then.
But in Costa Rica, I realized how CLOSE I really am to learning how to speak it. I can actually understand it pretty well, but since I rarely have the opportunity to use it, I don’t ever get better at it.
On the plane ride home from Costa Rica, I decided that I was going to learn how to speak Spanish. And I knew exactly who should teach me – my students!
Living in Orlando, the majority of my students are Spanish-speaking. And middle school kids love to be the expert at something. Plus, out of all the different kinds of students I have, I have the hardest time connecting to ESOL students (students who speak English as a second language). So, my first day back in school, I mentioned it to a few of my ESOL students in my first period class. I told them I wanted to learn to speak Spanish and asked if they would teach me a few simple phrases each week. They LOVED the idea!
My first period class picked a phrase for me to practice that week. “Sietate.” It means, “Sit down.” A key phrase when you’re teaching middle school. I wrote the phrase really small on the top of my whiteboard, just to remind myself to use it throughout the week. When my second period class came in, they wanted to know why that word was up on the board. When I explained, they all wanted to choose a phrase for me to learn that week, too. They chose, “Hoy es _______.” It means, “Today is _________,” and then they taught me the days of the week. By third period, my students already knew what was going on and they came into class throwing Spanish phrases at me. Finally, they decided their phrase would be “Quantos anos tienes?” It means, “How old are you?” The day continued that way and by 7th period, I had seven little Spanish phrases written on the top of my whiteboard like a news ticker. And all week long I used those phrases randomly. Sometimes I said them to my students. Sometimes they said them to me. Sometimes I caught myself practicing them in the hallway when I was walking by myself. However it happened, I learned seven Spanish phrases that day.
That started three weeks ago when I came back from Costa Rica, and every week now my students continue to choose a Spanish phrase for me to learn each week. So far I have learned how to ask to go to the bathroom, how to say if it’s hot or cold outside, how to say, “You have detention,” and (my favorite) how to say, “You should be reading!” More than learning phrases and words, though, I’m having a great time getting to know a group of students that I probably wouldn’t have been able to find common ground with before. Sometimes I think teaching is one of the greatest jobs you can have, but I’m finding that being a student is a pretty good gig to have, too.
15 Comments
colie
Katie! You have long been my favorite blog but this post really solidified it! I’m 27 and have been an ESOL teacher for the last 6 years. Learning a second language is hard, but let’s you connect to so many more people in such new ways. Let me tell you, just showing an interest in their home language means so much to your Spanish speaking kiddos and gives them such a powerful role model. Keep up the fantastic work! If you and Chris ever moved to Chicago, I would want you to teach at my school…..and if you ever have Spanish questions, email me.
Sarah@Crazy Love Gamble-Style
That is great Katie!! I can’t think of a better way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. What a wonderful way to connect to your students and learn at the same time. You might have to go back to Costa Rica to celebrate soon…
Kaitlyn @OneCorazonTresCountries
It was probably just a typo but if not I figured you should know (hopefully this is taken as positive criticism! 🙂 ) but it’s “años” , the ~over the n is HUGE because “anos” literally means “butt holes” haha. There were a couple of other errors but I figured that one was the biggest/funniest one you don’t want to make!! I just know a lot of times kids who speak Spanish at home don’t know how to spell it so I figured it’s best you not write “butt holes” on the board without knowing! haha
liza
Enhorabuena! Which means congratulations, by the way. It is always nice to hear news from people who engage in the adventure of learning a foreign language. It is hard sometines by as you have already experienced, very rewarding. Your students should be proud of their fabulous teacher! I’m Spanish by the way and i love your blog!
Monique
Such a great idea, Katie. Good luck learning Spanish, 7 phrases at a time!
Ashley @ A Recipe for Sanity
Bien dicho! Which means, “Well said!” I love that you brought the kids in using Spanish. What a great way to connect with them.
Stephanie @ Our Marriage Adventure
What a GREAT idea to help yourself learn more of the language. Just make sure you get the phrase “pretty little girl” down correctly…Don’t be my Mom on a mission trip. She thought she was saying that, she actually said “lady of the night” and well, you can imagine how well that went over. LOL!
Abby @ I Used To Have A Brain
I don’t know how to type the little swirly line over the N but you definitely don’t want to ask people “how many butt holes do you have?” haha! Very cool learning/teaching experience you’re getting!
Rachel
I live in ND, where the primary language is English (with a scandanavian accent). Our school district teaches Spanish starting in 3rd grade. All students take it in 3 – 5th grades. In 6th – 8th they take a quarter-long class that gives them an overview of several languages (Spanish, French, German, Latin). We took a family trip to Mexico when my kids were in 7th & 4th grades. With the intro into Spanish they had taken, I figured they should know at least SOME Spanish. Well, turns out they only teach days of the week, months, colors, numbers & some animals in the Spanish classes in our school district. Not helpful on our trip at all. I think it would helpful if they would teach them some phrases they could actually use like “I need help finding… (a bathroom, a restaurant, my parents, a hotel). On the up-side, my daughter has learned TONS of useful Spanish this year as a Freshman. Off my soapbox, now & good for you for wanting to learn & making it fun for your students too!
Alyssa
I love this post (but that’s nothing new). Before I became a stay at home mom I was the attendance lady in a middle school. The kids taught me how to do my attendance speech in Spanish and what common answers were so I could connect with parents better. It was great, I really loved working with middle school aged kids.
Jordan
Awesome! I took 3 years of Spanish in high school, and it just so happens that we’re taking a trip to Spain next month so I’ve been trying to brush up on my vocab (gotta know how to order the yummy stuff off the authentic menus!) This was a very timely post for me 🙂
Lynne
What a great idea – and thank you for motivating me to do something I always say I am going to do but never follow through on…..I give a family from Bhutan, who speak Nepalese, a ride every Sunday to church. They have varying degrees of skill in English, and I sometimes get frustrated because I can’t communicate with them all very well. I need to start making a list and learning some phrases. It is time to google “Learning to speak Nepalese” thanks!
Chelsea
SO neat! You are a great teacher. What an awesome way to connect with those students 🙂
Tabs
That is so awesome katie!! You truly are a great teacher!
Lori @ I Can Grow People
I took five years of Spanish in middle school and high school. I even got a 99% on my state exam my junior year and yet did so-so in AP Spanish my senior year. I wish I kept up with it…I only remember, like, level 1 Spanish. I actually have always wanted to take Latin! Maybe you can teach me some of that!