saturday i was running one of the spring break programs (i swear they're going to be the death of me). this program is way advanced for me. i am not being modest when i say i am not qualified to run this program. it's called planet hunters and i have my speech memorized that i say to explain what's happening and that's all. when more advanced people come in and start asking deeper questions i stumble my way through. it's bad. i mean, before the stumbling happens, people ask me if i'm an astronomer. that's how advanced the program is. i obviously say no. luckily, it's developed by an astronomer at the planetarium so i can give out his email so he can get back to them.
anyway that's nothing to do with the subject of this post.
so saturday this guy comes in and i could tell by the way he was looking at me while i was talking that he was ESL (english as a second language). so i slowed it down (my speed of talking), so i knew he understood. then he comes back later. we acknowledged we recognized each other. he apologized and explained he was sorry, but he just needed to use the computer. long story short. he was from ecuador and here on vacation so he wanted to plan the rest of his day because the person he was supposed to meet up with didn't show or something. so we start talking. he finds out i lived in mexico and immediately wants to speak in spanish... rapid fire style. i freeze. whoa! i explain (in spanish thank you) that i need him to speak slower.
but man did this call out that my spanish is rusty.
then thursday we went to a school in pilsen with the dome. which was awesome because liz and i crossed the street for some delicious and super cheap gorditas for lunch. we were deciding what we wanted as we walked i said a gordita because i hadn't had one since the gordita woman in mexico. it was delicious. and i loved explaining what a lot of foods were to her because she studied abroad in argentina and it's super different. anywho. a couple classes at the school we went to wanted their classes in spanish. which is totally fine, but i was not prepared. and it was... rough.
perfect initiative because my groupon spanish class started yesterday.
the class was awesome! i really enjoyed it. the teacher did give me the hardest questions, but i did ok. i screwed up on the prepositions as usual. in mexico my main goal was to have people understand me, which they generally did without the prepositions. i really hope i get something out of this class, but if nothing else i'm enjoying speaking spanish. i was just a teensy bit annoyed that the teacher learned spanish spain style, but the class is latin american/mexican style. so she tries to make the adjustments, but she can't get rid of her accent, which i pick up on a lot. oh i really want to find a spanish conversation group. anyone know of one? or have ideas of where i can find one?
and i have several outreach session that will be completely in spanish coming up possibly in may, but definitely in june. and one of my co-workers is more fluent than i am so i figured we would tag team and be a ok (the funder's supposed to come to one of the shows ... so the pressure's on). well then i remembered she's applying at a job right now and it's possible she won't even be there in june. meaning, i can't depend on her. even more reason to work on my spanish more and practice some special science words.
i know i can do it and this is probably some of the pressure i need.
Comments
Post a Comment