The quest to learn Spanish

One of the things on my to-do list in the US is to learn to speak Spanish! Why? Because I am crazy about learning languages. Being able to speak French now (at a more comfortable level) sort of gave me the confidence to learn another European language. And Spanish is widely used in California.

Does it make sense?

And well, I'm proud to say that after seven weeks of SPAN 111 at the College of San Mateo, under the instructions of la profesora Sarah and the awesomeness of los compañeros de clase, yo puedo hablar español!

It was funny because I actually signed up for the Summer semester on a whim. Classes have started a week ago, which meant I'd have missed the first two lessons. I also had to get my California residency verified at the student's admission office so that I could pay local rates for the course fees. I only had a few hours between calling the office to inquire and getting my butt to the college office - Jo was kind enough to send me there and stayed with me till the office closed. I was minutes away from the absolute deadline on registering as a late entry. And I made it!

It was only after the registration, on the way out of the glass doors, that it hit me - I was going back to the classroom! Omg... with college and high school kids who are more than a decade younger? Will I be able to cope? CSM is so much bigger than I thought. It was one of those uh-oh-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into-again moment. Quite typical of me.

Do first, think later.

But boy, I'm so glad I went ahead. The amount of homework was a killer (we cramped everything into a 7-week course!) but I learned so much in such a short period. It's amazing how I can now string together sentences, write an essay of 100-150 words on simple topics, and make simple conversations. From zero to this. In seven weeks. Incredible. Gracias to Ms Sarah!

Today, we had our last class before the final exams. We had to put together a cultural presentation on Spanish-speaking countries. I had so much fun working with Elyse and Ari on Mexico- we were the only group who dressed up and put flowers in our hair. (Being girls are so much more fun!) The presentation went really well. We remembered all our lines (phew!) and I think the class enjoyed it too.

Am really going to miss attending Spanish classes and seeing my classmates, some of whom I have gotten to know better, like Caroline who speaks French with me! I hope they will be able to visit Singapore some day.

¡Hasta luego, mis amigos!