Towards the end of the lesson, as Cynthia was conversing with our teacher Anna in Spanish on the topic of countries and nationalities in a convincing fluency, I was looking at the world map so nicely drawn on my Spanish book and couldn’t help but to imagine a game of RISK with my dwindling troops scattered at four corners of the world. Soon, in this lost battle of I against me, all I heard was a foreign language that I was clueless about. As though I was warped into another planet, lost in another reality.
But wait, weren’t Cynthia and I at the same class with supposedly the same progress?
OK. It was not all hard work. I like the part about Spanish culture that Anna took some time and shared with us some of the basic demography of España: the ancient Celtric tribes that settled at the north (Galicia), the capital city Barcelona of an autonomous community (Galicia) that borders with France, and the south of Spain (Andalusia) that is just a good swim away from Morocco. Anna asked us what else we wished to know besides the different peoples in Spain, the Flamenco dance (that is well known as a Spanish dance but in fact only popular in Andalusia at the south), and the 9am to 1pm / 4pm to 8pm working hours (siesta in between), my immediate response was: food.
That got everybody in the classroom feeling hungry, including Anna. Not my fault! It was an innocent question!
The hard part was learning the list of countries, nationalities, and the masculino and femenio forms for the males and females. For example, Spain is España, a Spanish man is Español, and a Spanish woman is Española. In plural form, we have Españols and Españolas. The rules that change the nationalities into the two forms are not that hard; the way a nationality is spelled out is. Some countries are totally unrecognizable. Who would have thought that the words America and American are Estados Unidos and Estadounidense in Spanish? I personally wish that the lesson stresses more on the pronunciation of these Spanish words rather than the rigorous exercise of pen-and-paper.
I guess it will take me a long while to memorize and speak what I’ve learned this lesson. No wonder I spaced out towards the end. How Cynthia managed to memorize on the spot and speak is totally beyond me. Perhaps her brain is wired in a different way.
Medic!
24 replies on “¿De Dónde Eres? ¡Singapur! – So I Sotong My Way Through Yet Another Spanish Class”
This reminds me of the Indonesian language class my hubby and I took years ago. It happened exactly like yours. I was the fast learner and the hubby was struggling and dreaming away in class, half the time thinking of where to eat after class. duh.
Oh… thanks for your votes for this past month. today last day. Charge!! 😀
lolz… so have you found out the meaning of the sentence i gave to you yet? =P
I wasnt taught by Anna but your entries seem to be helping me revise my espanol hehe
One thing about food/eating time in Spain that I cant get used (even if I was there holidaying for 4,5 days) is that they dont take proper meals at 6pm (which I would think is dinner time for a singaporean’s stomach). They just drink and have tapas. By 6pm, I just had to order rice haha
ECL – I can see that your hubby and I have something in common. I’ve got to compare notes with him on how-to-stay-awake-and-not-think-of-food during language lessons.
Good luck with your votes!
Sylv – Far from it, Sylv. Far from it …
Si Ying – Ah, so the story of drink and tapas story is true then. Anna told us that when she was young, she was used to party till 4 in the morning living on wine and tapas and siesta!
haha yap and when its summer when the sun doesnt set till 9pm the locals would be still having their drinks and tapas till then. and so i had to close the windows and use a eye cover and sleep (i had a whole day of shopping, which is excellent in barcelona haha)
Si Ying – OK. Now I am very tempted to visit Spain 🙂 From my limited knowledge Barcelona should be near to south of France so I can visit that too! I heard south of France is beautiful.
Yap I would love to go back Barcelona again. Never been to south of France, only to Paris, (but heard that its beautiful too) but would think it will be quite different from Barcelona. Barcelona is very lively, buzzing with actions, very colourful. I love their houses, esp those pretty windows and balcony.
Natas fair is here again, maybe you plan for one to Spain =)
Si Ying – Me too. I have only been to Paris and another small town off Paris. If Barcelona is as colorful as you described, I think I need to bring along a good camera to take some real good pictures.
Can you really get some good deals from the Natas fair? Maybe I shall plan the holiday in advance.
Yap I think you will have fun taking photos there. Its a place full of energy and colours! I can send u a link of the photos I took in barcelona if you are interested. Am sure it will motivate your learning of Espanol =)
I have never booked my holidays from the fair though because its quite hard to plan in advance. Normally I book 2, 3 months in advance thats all. But I heard of friends getting good deals if you are real early. I supposed if you plan and pay now you get certainty of the fuel charges you are paying (and benefit if its remain high when u jet off)
Si Ying – Yes please! A link to the Barcelona photos would be good. If you wish to send the link via email, my email address is at the “About Me” link near the banner of this homepage.
Same same here. Hard to book anything in advance. Maybe it is a change in habit eh?
No problem, I would love to share too- http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z21/siyingtan/ (mostly photos for Barcelona & Paris).
They were taken in 07, when I went to Barcelona, Paris, London & Bath (mostly on my own, along the way meeting up with 2 friends and making new friends as well).
Haha I too cant imagine myself booking a holiday now for June 09, which I read in papers that there are people who do that.
Food ! Yeh, food!I’m thinking of paella now! Hungry…how?
Si Ying – Thanks for sharing! I do recognize Paris and UK! So I guess the ones in between are from Barcelona eh? Gosh, do they sell the pigs as they were in a supermarket? Whole piece?!
Wow …
I do like the scenery though … (and what weird looking food they eat!).
Tigerfish – I don’t know much about Spanish food. I don’t think I have one proper Spanish meal in my life before! Maybe you shall create some Chinese Spanish fusion food at your webbie and I shall try to learn.
Yap, hanging the whole pig in the market (something like our wet market, but smells better, cleaner and drier). They have a few such famous wet markets- famous either for the range of food stuff they sell or for the architecture/design of the building.
Weird food really? I cant quite think of which food you would think to be weird, but I think spanish food has its characters. I have yet to find affordable spanish food in spore because the one I came across in The Central seems to be expensive (even though food over there isnt cheap as well).
Si Ying – I think I am more used to seeing either rice or pasta or potato. Maybe I see the wrong picture but there seems to be a pan full of some sort of mixture. Similar to the one that our Spanish teacher describe. Kind of strange to me I think … ha ha ha.
By the way, I do remember the wet market in UK and it did smell better … etc. come to think of it.
Then I know what is it. =) Its paella (seafood rice). Their serving is normally quite big as they are served in pans meant for sharing among a few people. There are alot seafood and rice but its alot more wet/sticky due to the gravy. The colours are normally quite reddish also. Its quite nice, I love it =) Sometimes I wish I stopped being such a stringy and have more local food than come back and crave for it.
Oh! Our wet market is definitely wet haha
Si Ying – Hmmm … sounds like something I would enjoy eating. Must try one day!
Let me know if you manage to find a nice place for it here =)
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