Language Barriers & "Fame"

This week has been another reminder to me how much I wish I would have taken my language classes more seriously when I was younger.  Moreover, I wish I had the determination to sit down and practice a new language. While I thought it would be easier to remember and pick up Spanish during this trip, it has been very difficult for me to even try to translate or repeat words. I see this challenge as a daily reminder that while I want to get to know my students, there is a barrier that is keeping us from bonding in a way I would be able to with my students in Texas. I feel as though I am no help and I desperately want to be helpful. I am reminded with the saying that once you are older, it is harder to learn new languages. Hopefully, someday, I could attempt to carry out this challenge.

With all this being said, I wouldn't change a minute of this experience so far.  I have learned so much from observing and the few small conversations I have been able to have with teachers in English. I can tell that teachers have more patience for students who have more energy and cannot sit at their desks. Teachers and students have a bond that is hard to describe: very loving and trusting. Students are encouraged to balance the mind, body, and spirit by relaxing themselves before they start every class through meditation. In addition, the students are very touchy with each other. They are seen "rough housing" during most breaks. Once again, the amount of patience these teachers have is incredible and I hope to bring back this mindset when I go back to Texas.

With close to two weeks in the school over, it amazes me that these students are capable of knowing how to read and speak words in three languages: Basque, Spanish, and English. I love that both the English teachers I follow bring music and or stories to help the students practice their English in front of others. We have found that many adults here in Mondragon are too nervous or shy to even attempt to speak it with us, Americans. I love how interactive English lessons can be through repeating phrases in stories with emotions. Moreover, they all work on a web program called Trainer that has activities in which students need to match vocabulary words to pictures and or re-type phrases or words once they disappear from the screen. Some students are able to listen to words and then pick the correct word from a list and some students find vocabulary in cross-word puzzles. I am also very impressed that these students are very interested in my life, America, and my schooling. Even though we might have a few pauses in which we do not know what each other is saying, we come to an understanding that I am very much like them. I hope to continue to learn from these two spectacular English teachers and maybe even be able to show them how we teach vocabulary and how to use the English language.

On the other hand, we have had very exciting opportunities these past couple of weeks. There is no hiding that us 5 are from America because we first, don't speak basque, but we also speak too loud. Wherever we go, people are staring. Last week, we got an email from one of our contacts, Tane. She said we had sparked some interest in this community and they will write an article for their "valley" newspaper and have an interview for the local telly. Since the newspaper article was published, many teachers at my school have tried to express how excited and shocked they were to see me in the newspaper. We even feel as though some locals are staring at us longer and might have connected that we were the ones from the paper.

One teacher was able to give me my own copy before we went to Goiena, the local news, newspaper and radio headquarters. We headed over to Goiena, February 8th, to get a tour of the headquarters and to get interviewed for our segment on Friday. All of us were super excited yet nervous for this experience. We all dressed up more and us girls looked more like girls today! They were incredibly nice, but only a few could have full conversations with us in English. They showed us the layout they send to reporters to write their stories and showed all of their products, which includes magazines. Turns out that over 20,000 people receive the free newspaper that had our article! One woman was taping us talking with the workers and then later interviewed us in groups. Melissa and I were grouped together because we only speak English. Victor, Andrea, and Camila were together so they could answer in Spanish, which will be easier to translate. They only asked 3 questions, but when the camera is on, you feel the pressure and feel as though it was taking forever. After the interviews, they explained that they will play what we said and then have a translator speak and or have captions at the bottom of the screen. All of us were given 2 copies of the newspaper and we had plenty of time for picture opportunities. Overall, it was an unforgettable experience and now we can say that we are stars!

Here is the online article for all to view: http://goiena.eus/debagoiena/1486114474627 Note this article is in Basque, but you should be able to translate it through your web browser to English.
I will post the link to our interview on camera when it is created!

Cannot wait for Madrid this weekend,
Jillian