Working man

This is work.

The class time itself (8 am – 1 pm, with a half hour break) is demanding in itself. It’s a long time to stay focused on something you’re not that good at (but working hard at). And then there are the assignments for the evening. In the evening, I do some extra studying, going through notes from the day (my teacher keeps running notes about the grammar and vocab issues that arise as we talk, and then gives them to me). I flip through vocab and verb cards in the morning before breakfast. And then, of course, I spend time at meals with my host family trying to understand and contribute to what is being said – the abuela is really taking time with me to speak slowly and see if I am understanding.

The in-class part, as of Day Two, is pretty agreeable. One-on-one teaching is good and my teacher is very responsive to what I want to talk about. She uses our conversations for little lessons in relation to how I say what I say. She also gives me words I can’t find, and writes them down. And she also initiates conversation and seems genuinely interested in who I am and what I am about. Very personalized, to say the least.

My homestay abuela told me that Day One is the toughest and I’d get adjusted to the work and would be less and less frustrated with my inadequacies as I went along and would actually get better at the language. She’s seen it happen with lots of other students. Well, I can say that Day Two was not as exhausting as Day One and that I’m a little more comfortable with being a child in my language level. So that’s encouraging.

I’m feeling like I’m trying to learn a new trade at my ripe old age. I’m not retired, I’m a working man. I’m just not getting paid.