My Spanish evening course with Cactus
Friday, 29th May 2009
In about two months I will leave New York and will fly to Buenos Aires in order to complete my MBA at the UADE University. I’m far from being fluent in Spanish and this is probably the main reason I decided to take a Spanish program.
Cactus offers 10 week evening language courses, with one lesson each week from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Given that I work as an intern during the day, evening courses seemed to be the best option for me.
As a native French speaker, understanding Spanish is not the toughest part of the job. Words are very similar; the grammar and the way of constructing sentences are based on the same logic most of the time. Because my aim was to be able to communicate and to be understood by people I will meet in Argentina, speaking was the element I wanted to focus most on - practising the language, extending my vocabulary and also interacting with different people to learn from their own way of learning. In that sense I think the Cactus course has really met my expectations - the main focus of Cactus part-time evening programs is conversation.
The classes consist of 6-8 students, which makes the courses very eclectic. People who are attending these programs have different backgrounds, interests, cultures, ages… which means that the sessions are very dynamic and rewarding. The fact that the classes are quite small gives each student the opportunity to get a decent amount of time to talk to the teacher. A genuine relationship is created between the student and the teacher. I think that having a personable teacher who takes an interest in their students is very important - by knowing everyone’s aims and background, the teacher is able to adapt the course content to its students’ needs. Although it is not an individual lesson, you still have access to most of the advantages of this type of course.
Native-speaker teachers: another Cactus’ asset that cannot be ignored! The first 2 years that I studied Spanish were during my university studies in France, with a teacher from Madrid, which of course has affected the style of my Spanish (Spain orientated). My teacher at Cactus was from Venezuela and therefore very knowledgable about the variants of Spanish that are commonly used in South/Central America. Aiming to move to Buenos Aires, this gave me the opportunity to adapt my existing Spanish to a more South American version and to get ready for the next step. In addition this grammatical aspect, I’ve also learned a lot about cultural, political and social aspects. When you plan to immerse yourself in a country I think it is a ‘must’ to have some general knowledge about these type of specific points. Cactus evening courses are very beneficial to do prior a trip abroad in this sense.
What I most liked about the program is the structure of the course, which was really different from a standard university language class. Most of the time discussions develop quite dynamically during class and the teacher is able to ‘go with the flow’ and continue the theme if students are interested in it. This type of exercise forces you to handle conversations you’re not prepared to, and really helps you to develop self-confidence.
The people who attend this type of class are generally there because they have chosen to be – this means that there are usually very motivated, which in turn creates a dynamic atmosphere and ensures that the class progresses at a good speed.
Tags: new york, language course, language, part-time evening course, learning, culture, french, spanish
Posted by Marie-Charlotte Foissy under Attitudes to Language Learning, Types of Courses,
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