School #2 - Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Alicante

The Official Language School in Alicante...I don't really know what to say about it...

It's been an interesting challenge...

Before I even left the States, Elena had pre-enrolled me in Spanish for Foreigners: 2nd Basic Level. Apparently, the language schools are very popular and there's always an extremely large number of people who want to enroll. Because of this, it's necessary to pre-enroll, and find out what date to return and actually enroll in the school. September 30th was my date. I had school that day, but Elena said she didn't need me to come along, so she went by herself to enroll me. And later, I felt bad about letting go through that process alone.

I felt bad because she spent 3 hours in lines trying to complete my enrollment and from what she said, they kept sending to her a different line to resolve the issue. The issue she had was that they wouldn't let me enroll in 2nd Basic. Why? Because I hadn't taken the "prueba de nivel," which is basically a skill test to see how good (or bad) my Spanish is and which class I should be in. This test was in September, but when Elena had pre-inscribed me in July, they hadn't said a single thing about it. Unfortunately, they remained firm, and I ended up in 1st Basic Spanish for Foreigners. Along with probably being too easy, there were some other problems with 1st Basic. One, they enrolled me in the 9AM class, which I obviously can't do, since I have regular school. Two, the other class I could attend was Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-6. This was a problem because I don't get out of school until 2 o'clock, leaving me barely enough time to get home from school, grab a snack, and then head out to catch the bus, but not enough time to eat an actual lunch.

So I went ahead an attended 1st Basic. Which was ridiculous, for me, and I don't feel bad about saying that. First off, there were no other people my age (which is not the ridiculous part, actually...I had just been expecting to see some other youth in the class). The ridiculous part is what we did the first day of class. Seated more or less in a circle, we took turns asking the person next to us three questions: ¿Cómo te llamas?, ¿De dónde eres?, and ¿Dónde vives? (What's your name?, Where are you from?, and Where do you live?). All of which I already know how to say, what they mean, how to conjugate each verb, and everything...things the other members of the class struggled with at times. After a short break 30 minutes later, we returned and then proceeded to learn the alphabet - letter by letter. Again, something I already know. The next class wasn't much better. While I didn't necessarily know every occupation on the worksheet, I knew the majority. And in 1st Basic, I have no problem following the class. I understand everything that everyone says, including the teacher.

So I decided to talk to teacher, who once again talked about the skill test in September. The only helpful thing I learned was that there is another test in February. To wait for that test would be a waste of time, I don't have however.

Luckily, Luis had an idea. He had attended a class at the language school last year. He said, in the beginning, things are still a little unorganized and the teachers don't have lists, and he said there were many people who came in and said it was their class. However, once the lists came out, several of these people weren't on the lists...but they still attended the class for the whole year!

With that in mind, I have begun to attend the 2nd Basic classes. While they're still not a challenge, it's not easy. Some of the stuff I already know, like irregularities with verbs, and some I don't, like colloquial Spanish expressions. And I still have to work to follow the class and the professor. There still aren't lists and I'm hoping once the lists come out, if I'm not on it, it won't be a problem. If it is though, this professor seems much more understanding than the other. Another thing I learned was that if a student has a problem (with a class, professor, or whatever), they are advised to talk to their professor, which didn't work for me. If that doesn't work, they are advised to talk to the department head, who happens to be the professor for 2nd Basic! So if my professor of 2nd Basic asks me what's going on, it's perfect to talk with him, because he's also the department head!

So I'm attending 2nd Basic on Tuesday and Thursday, from 6:10-8:00, a much better time slot. I'm looking forward to learning more in this class, but we'll have to see!

The Official Language School

Until next time,
Erik

Currently listening to:
Song: Overkill
Artist: Colin Hay
Album: Scrubs Soundtrack