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Published: October 4th 2010
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The school
(on the left !) My first day at my high school; La Roda was last Friday, 1st October.
I've had two days there now, and this is what I've noticed...
First difference - the timetable. At home, there would be two lessons in the morning, a 15 minute break, 2 more lessons, 30 minutes to an hour for lunch time, followed by another lesson.
Here, it is 2 lessons, followed by break or 'breakfast' at 11.30 - 12.00, and then lessons until the end of the day. It works out pretty well; it's just odd to have breakfast so late, but the teachers do seem to enjoy going to a local cafe for coffee & tostada (toasted bread, which is really nice).
Second difference - big difference, is that this school is actually a bilingual school. Half of the timetable, along side their English classes, study Maths, Social Sciences (History & Geography) and Natural Sciences in ENGLISH. (Impressive)
So, I'm actually not just going to be helping out only in the English classes, but History & Geography too... Something I haven't learnt since I was maybe 14 years old. I'm guessing they will know a lot more than me!
Third difference - still a positive one, is that the school is TINY. I know La Roda de Andalucía is a small town, but the school has around 250 pupils and about 10 classrooms in total. Which I really like. It’s definitely personal, slightly less chaotic, and I’m pretty sure I won't be getting lost! Always a good thing.
Overall, from what I've seen the past two days, the school is lovely. The teachers are friendly, and mostly bilingual, apart from a few, but still communicating in Spanish is going well.
Today (my first real day at the school) I got put in front of a whole class with no exact lesson plan, no real idea of what their level of English is etc. .. So it was quite difficult (and a shock) to be thrown in the deep end. More difficult when you finally realise everyone can't understand what you're saying.
Its never something you think about, as clearly English to a English speaking person is natural, so trying to explain WHY you say things in the order that you do or HOW you put sentences together is actually harder than you'd think. English is definitely not
easy to learn !!
So we played hangman using words based on a text they were reading, then I used flashcards to ask questions like, “what colour is her jumper?” etc followed by a numbers quiz! Which they seemed to like and enjoy.
The kids are nice, but very, VERY loud and excitable. There is no real discipline in Spanish schools so they don’t get detention, they don’t really get shouted at, meaning; they can get away with most things. But they do seem to calm down after a while.
But so far, I really like the school .. and I'm hoping I will eventually be a good language assistant!
A big down point these past few days has been not being able to say exactly what I’m thinking effectively. My grammar is pretty shocking (have always known this, still trying to learn) meaning I get pretty tongue-tied when it comes to speaking. I can listen and understand well, it’s probably what I’m best at, but when it comes to replying I just feel like an idiot and end up speaking Spanglish.
So, as these first few weeks we have been trying to figure out
really important things (ie. How to get to school with someone reliable everyday.. proving more difficult than I ever thought possible) it is the most frustrating thing to not be able to say exactly what you mean, whilst trying to remain polite!
I’m also missing
• Home things, people, dog etc!
• Not being stared at like I have two heads (Spanish people don’t just glance. They stop what they’re doing, turn around and watch you do whatever you’re doing. Even if you notice them, they don’t stop).
• Understanding everyone without having to say ‘qué?,’ and ‘como?,’ every two minutes and
• Being able to get my point across.
It’s not the end of the world, but it is hard. I always knew that, so it’s nothing I wasn’t expecting.
Onwards and upwards!
This week we have two trips to Sevilla planned. I’m looking forward to some normal city life again and visiting what is possibly the most amazing city I’ve ever been to.
Hopefully i'll also be able to get some warmer clothes! It is freezing living on such a hill at night time !! (And Estepa clothes shop are either for old women or belong in Harvey Nichols!)
Hasta luego!
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