And Another…

The fact is that my life this week has revolved almost solely around my Spanish classes. Up early every morning, in class until 1:00, trying to un-fry my brain over lunch, doing homework and then on to miscellaneous errands and minor boat projects. I wasn’t wandering the city doing the touristy thing.

These home-grown metal sculptures were just a few feet from the Spanish School’s front door. I walked by them each day and came to enjoy their whimsical side. And, these were the only pictures I took all week!

School is going well. I am working hard to figure out how to get a few more of my atrophied brain cells firing more reliably but may just have to accept some failures. Hell, there are plenty of times these days when my brain reaches out for an English word and comes up short. I am learning, however slowly.

What has been most interesting to me in attending these classes is the extent to which I have used the iPad as an aid. This is the first classroom style educational experience that I have had in a very long time and new technology has changed the game.

As an example, our instructor, Daniel, presents new material very well, speaking slowly and clearly (in Spanish, of course) and writing notes neatly and legibly on the white board at the same time. Like my two classmates, I began the first day scribbling these notes diligently on my note pad. I soon remembered two things, however. First: If you are writing, you are not listening – at least not as well focused as possible. Second: When I scribble notes, no one, myself included, will EVER be able to read them.

I started sitting back, concentrating on what Daniel was saying and, when the white board was filled with his legible, logically organized handwritten notes, I used the iPad to take a picture of it before he erased the board and moved on. Now I have the notes readily and always available for review in a convenient form on a device which has become my almost constant companion.

“There is an App for Anything and Everything”. This is not a revelation to me (or anyone!). Therefore, as the needs of the Spanish Language classroom became clear to me, I went searching for Apps that could help.

First to be added to the toolbox was a VERY comprehensive Spanish-English dictionary App. I had long ago learned to hate my “Traveler’s Spanish” Dictionary purchased in Guatemala 3 years ago. The word I was looking for was NEVER there. The classrooms at Nueva Lengua have good dictionaries at hand, of course. However, the app is much faster and (beneficial to the older person’s eyes) is brighter and has larger fonts. The iPad dictionary app has become the default for everyone in my class – the printed dictionary lying completely ignored and unused on the table.

There is a lot of verb conjugation in Spanish and many, many, many irregular verbs. The second app to be added was a verb-only dictionary showing all of the conjugations for all of the tenses. While used less often than the overall dictionary, still it has been helpful – and it was cheap!

Two other apps, one for increasing vocabulary and one for learning and reviewing grammar have also been downloaded from the app store. These are for use outside the classroom and will form the basis for what I intend to be an ongoing effort to continually improve my Spanish.

There is, however, no learning substitute for actually conversing or reading in Spanish. Conversations are a significant part of the classroom experience, of course, and will necessarily occur often as my travels in South and Central America continue over the next year or so. And, I have found that reading a few articles a day in the local newspaper goes a long way towards improving vocabulary and comprehension.

The irony of this is not lost on me.

Technology, while useful, can easily be trumped by the oldest and lowest tech forms of learning – talking, listening and reading.

One more week of school and I will be ready to once again scrape the ubiquitous Cartagena barnacles off my prop and hull (Anti-Fouling Paint Manufacturers should really do all of their testing in the Bahia de Cartagena!) and prepare for the jump to the San Blas Islands of Panama.

Best to all.