Classroom Life


As I mentioned previously, each weekday that we were in Quito we had classes at a Spanish language school called the Andean Studies Program. So I guess the actual school work deserves some coverage...

At Ohio State, elementary language classes are arranged numerically, from 101 to 104. After 104 the classification jumps to the 200 level. OSU is still on the quarter system (for one more year – they will make the switch in fall 2012; glad I'm gone for that mess!), so each class is 10 weeks long. In Ecuador we got academic credit for three classes – in my case 102, 103, and 104. I had taken Spanish 101 back at OSU during spring quarter of my freshman year, which was the minimum requirement to be eligible for the study abroad.

We used the same textbooks as the students back in Columbus, but since we covered three classes worth of material in 10 weeks it was at a much faster pace. Granted we were in class longer each day, but there was little time to review material before the next text day arrived. Despite the speed of the lessons, I felt like I learned much more than I would have back at a classroom in Ohio. We had plenty of chances to practice our Spanish with local Ecuadorians, especially our host families.

 During the first few weeks I spoke a mix of English and Spanish with my family, but as my language skills improved we transitioned to mostly Spanish. Unfortunately most of the students used English together – but if we had tried Spanish there wouldn't have been much we could have all talked about!

Some of us with Mario (left) a Spanish teacher at our school
On a class field trip - we spent a lot of time outside the  
classroom, but I felt that we learned a lot that way
Me and Ryan with one of our Ecuadorian buddies.

Every Thursday we had our weekly test, and after three weeks or so we had the final for each class level. Our tests were administered by the two grad students from OSU, but our teachers were local Ecuadorians. The material was challenging but definitely manageable. I tried to put aside at least an hour or two a night to study the daily material, and did fine on most of the tests.

By the end of the program I was able to hold a 15 minute conversation with a native speaker – albeit covering a basic subject. When I got back to the US, however, I stopped using Spanish on an everyday basis and began to lose what I had learned. Sadly the decline in my abilities was just as rapid as the rise. One big lesson that I won’t soon forget is that practice and constant repetition are musts if one wishes to keep up with a foreign language. Now I need to put that advice to good use!

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