5 Days to Learn Spanish: Day 5

Can a person learn a foreign language in just 5 days?

After one week in Spanish immersion school in Valencia, Spain, I can officially tell you the answer is yes, but not very well.

I just completed my last 5-hour day with 4 incredible professors and 2 adorable classmates.

I am wiped.

I am thrilled it is Friday.

And I am so darn happy I gave it my best shot.

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I feel a bit like I did at my high school graduation, knowing I will miss Jules and Louis now that school is over.

I snap some cute photos and shoot some quick video of our crazy conversation instructor, Professora Goretti. I don't want to forget these faces and the laughs we had making up words and putting sentences together.

Professora Goretti, Jules & Luis

I struggle today with my recall ability. I keep using Italian words.

I blame it on the fun conversation with the Italian family in the bike shop yesterday. However, I'm quite sure I hit a wall concentrating so hard for so many hours on such little sleep.

On this final day I realize I am not going to use the Spanish word for bath mat anytime soon. (It's la alfombrilla, in case you're wondering.) So I let myself off the hook on the note-taking and try to just LISTEN, soaking it all in, appreciating these final minutes of class.
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My favorite part of today: learning social media terms used in Spain

Twitter is pronounced "tweet-er"
To text is "chat-ee-ar" (to chat)
WhatsApp is used as a verb here and pronounced "whas-app-eh-ar"
To google something is also a verb, pronounced "goog-leh-ar"
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So was this an effective experience in learning Spanish?
Absolutely.
I truly believe I can now read and understand the language...in present tense, that is!

Hey. That's more than I knew last week!

I will leave you with a portion of my Murrow-worthy composition of "What's in My House." (Please pardon the lack of accent marks; can't figure out how to type those yet.)

En mi casa hay 3 habitaciones:
Un dormitorio grande y dos habitaciones de invitations.
En mi cocina nosotros camemos en la barra. No hay un salon-comedor y no hay un studio.
En mi casa tambien hay un salon con paredes blancas, tres banos, y una terraza
pequena.
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Terminado!
Hasta La Vista, Valencia!

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