{"id":243,"date":"2019-04-21T03:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T07:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/21\/learning-spanish-part1\/"},"modified":"2019-04-21T03:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T07:12:00","slug":"learning-spanish-part1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/21\/learning-spanish-part1\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Spanish in Guadalajara, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

Our first priority in starting our life in Mexico was to learn
\nthe Spanish language. If we are going to spend the next few years living in
\ncountries where Spanish is the primary language spoken, we felt we needed to
\nget a good grasp of the language early on.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAnd while we had lived in Puerto Rico for a time in the
\nmid-90s and were not Spanish beginners, we knew that we had a long way to go
\nbefore we would feel comfortable with the language. We want to obtain a level
\nof proficiency so that we can develop friendships and truly feel part of Mexico
\n(and other Spanish speaking countries we choose to live in or visit).  <\/span>Knowing the language is also important
\nlogistically, to allow us to navigate daily tasks such as asking where a
\nbathroom is and understand the answer, being able to order food at a street \u201cpuesto\u201d
\nor in a restaurant, asking for directions, buying groceries, paying for items
\nat stores, going to the doctor\u2019s office, and more.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBefore we left the United States, we both studied Spanish independently,
\nusing books we still had around, a CD series and an app called Duolingo, and we
\ndecided to immerse ourselves in learning the language as soon as we arrived in Mexico.
\nWe chose to attend a language school in Guadalajara (GDL), Mexico\u2019s second
\nlargest city, in the central region of Mexico. Like most Americans, we had
\nnever been to the region, spending our previous trips on Mexican coasts for
\nbeach vacations. This would give us an opportunity to begin our learning
\nprocess while exploring a new area. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

\nGuadalajara Language
\nCenter <\/b><\/h3>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a>We chose the Guadalajara Language Center (GLC)<\/b><\/a>, which is actually located in Tlaquepaque, a town at the southern edge of
\nGuadalajara known for its pottery and ceramics. In fact, our apartment is less
\nthan quarter-mile from the city boundary and we routinely run in GDL. The school
\noffered several language programs, including an advertised CLEP prep class,
\nLexie could take and get college credit for. We signed up for the immersion
\nprogram, where we would take 4 hours a day of classes for 8 weeks, Monday
\nthrough Friday. We took written placement exams and were a bit surprised that
\nwe all tested higher than expected.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOnce we arrived in Tlaquepaque, Lisa and I were ready to go
\nfirst thing Monday morning, while Lex decided to take a week off to recover
\nfrom the long trip from the east coast of the United States before starting.
\nThe location of our apartment was perfect, just a seven-minute walk from the
\nschool. Daily classes ran from 9 -11 AM and then 11:30 AM-1:30 PM, after which
\nwe walked about 3 minutes to the Tlaquepaque main square to choose from the
\nfood trucks and local eateries.<\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe school, run by an easygoing Dutchman named Wouter Stout
\nwho is married to a Mexican woman, is located in an unassuming two-story blue
\nbuilding on a street corner just two blocks from the Centro Historico. It
\ncontains five small classrooms, a little kitchen for brewing coffee each day
\nfor grateful students, a large hallway with a couple of computers for students\u2019
\nuse, and a larger gathering room with a couple of couches and chairs, and
\nWouter\u2019s desk in a corner. <\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wouter and his dog, Estrella<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\nEvery week a new group of students arrives from all over the
\nworld, though they seem to be clustered on the California coastline and western
\nCanada, probably because of easy flights to Guadalajara. Some stay for only a
\nweek or two, some for the winter, so new placements need to be made every week,
\nand the first thing Wouter does on Mondays is assign students to classes based
\non their tests and hope for the best. If it\u2019s not a fit, changes can be made
\nafter the first session on Monday. In the mornings we had one instructor and in
\nthe afternoon a different instructor. Wouter also provides resources for doing
\nother activities to help discover the area, including organizing a weekly hike
\ninto the Barranca (canyon), and providing students with info about Lucha Libre,
\nsalsa and bachata dance lessons, a walking tour of Tlaquepaque, and more. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lex with the GLC resident dog, Estrella (Star)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n<\/div>\n

\nAy, Caramba!<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOur first day was rough. We were placed together, which was
\nfortunate, but in too high a level for our comprehension skills, and Spanish
\nwords just flew over our heads. Fortunately, during the break adjustments were
\nmade, and we were placed in an appropriate level class and could get down to
\nthe business of learning. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

\nInteresting Classmates<\/b><\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

\nDuring our eight weeks taking classes, we usually had just
\none other person in our class, and at most a total of four. Since we often
\nshared stories from our lives in Spanish conversations, we got to know some of
\nthose people fairly well. Everyone had an interesting story as to why they were
\nthere. Aaron, from Napa Valley, was our classmate for several weeks. He worked
\nfor a small vineyard and wanted to be able to communicate better with the
\nMexican workers when he traveled. He also had financial incentive from his
\ncompany, so he immersed himself in and out of class, living in a homestay so he
\ncould speak with his hosts in Spanish and enjoy home-cooked Mexican meals. Shireen,
\nfrom Boulder, CO, spent winters in an RV with her partner in a small beach
\ncommunity called Guayabita on the west coast of Mexico. Jack, a gay librarian
\nfrom Vancouver, talked about the drag shows he attended at home and the Mexican
\nfriends he partied with in Tlaquepaque. Eva was a retired English teacher who
\nspent several weeks in Mexico. David worked on a boat that took people on
\nNational Geographic eco-tours from Alaska to South America. Francine, originally from Iran, was
\na scientist-engineer studying Spanish between jobs. We met retirees and
\nbackpackers, and a young Catholic couple with seven kids who were starting life
\nas missionaries in Ecuador.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Our buddy Eva<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\nFind out more about our Spanish learning experience in Part
\n2!<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our first priority in starting our life in Mexico was to learn the Spanish language. If we are going to spend the next few years living in countries where Spanish is the primary language spoken, we felt we needed to get a good grasp of the language early on. And while we had lived in … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Learning Spanish in Guadalajara, Part 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,41,43,44,4,98,65],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adventure-travel","tag-explore","tag-guadalajara","tag-guadalajara-language-center","tag-mexico","tag-spanish","tag-tlaquepaque"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/messysuitcase.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}