Blog 8: Spanish as a second language

On this trip I have learned how it is to be in the shoes of my EEL students, along with how learning works. I realized that I could not have really understood how learning works without going on this trip. If someone were to ask me what learning was when I was sitting in one of my college courses last semester I would have said learning is fun, but my study abroad trip has shown me otherwise. Through learning Spanish and how to communicate with my tico families I have experienced that learning is hard. I have discovered that learning works by using what you know and expanding on that little by little. I don’t think true learning can happen until a person can link it to something else that they already know. I also think learning happens when someone feels comfortable in an environment. I thought I felt comfortable in my first home stay because they spoke English well, but I realized in my second home stay that felt more comfortable because they speak all Spanish and very little English. In my first home I tried to use my Spanish, but if I wasn’t for sure that what I was saying was right then I would just say it in English. I did this because I did not want to be wrong speaking in Spanish because they were good at speaking English. In my second home I am using my Spanish more and feel okay to mess up and make mistakes, which is enhancing my learning. I have learned that learning happens over time and I am using some things I know to learn more. 

As a future teacher I will help my students by building off their prior knowledge, make sure they are comfortable enough to make mistakes in my classroom because a lot of learning comes from making mistakes. I am glad I got to really understand what learning is because if I never came on this trip I would never known what I do now because this can’t be taught in a classroom.