Feliz Navidad

La Iglesia de Espanol

I went to the Clinton Spanish church today with my Aunt. We signed the guest book and went in for Sabbath school. When church came around and it was time to introduce the visitors and they announced that they had two gifts for the first two visitors who had signed the book. Well there was a visitor that had come in before us so he went up and received the gift. My aunts name was next, but she wouldn't go up because she goes there every once in awhile. So they called my name to go up. I kind of froze and had a moment of fear. But finally I got up and walked to the front and received the gift. It was nice of them, and they were all very friendly. It was a good experience and I was able to see alot of people that I knew.

Wheat Center

We went to the Wheat Center in Clinton this week to practice our Spanish. When we arrived we were divided into pairs to help in the shop. Lynise and I were paired up, and we were assigned the job of restocking the shelves in the food pantry. Well for some reason they underestimated our strength and put Paul and Matthew in there instead. Oh well. So we were moved to help clean the racks of the clothes that were not any good. While we were working a Spanish gentleman came up to us and asked a question. I could understand that he was looking for something that had to do with beef. There was one word though that was key to his quetion and I had no idea what it ment. It turned out that he was looking for a meat grinder. They didn't have one, but I learned a new word, even though I can't remember it now. lol All in all it was a good experience.

Guantanamera

Here are a couple of versions of Guantanamera that I found on youtube. Its interesting how people sing it different ways.

Iglesia

Today I went to Spanish church with my class. It was a little intimidating at first. I felt like I had been dropped into a pool and wasn't able to swim. But it was a good experience to only hear spanish for 4 hours straight. I didn't understand every word but I was able to get the jist of what was going on. Now I know what it will be like the next time I go.

Second Test

We had our second Oral Exam this week. I can't say that I did as well as I would have liked, but it wasn't to bad. We spend almost four hours or so practicing for that exam and we still didn't remember everything. Funny thing is Lynise and I did better while we were practicing then we did during the test. I guess it was probably nerves. I did understand most of what he said during the exam it was just recalling the vocabulary I wanted to use to answer that was the problem. I have such a limited Spanish vocabulary that it is frustrating when I want to say something and don't know what words to put it into. I guess the vocab will come with time.

Mission Trip Pictures

Here are some pictures from the two mission trips I went to. The first one was to Mexico and the second to Venezuela.

Last Class

I found last class to be productive for Lynise and I. We worked on our material for our next oral exam. I think we both have a long way to go before we are going to be ready for this test. There is so much information to remember that it is going to be tough. I think that we can do it though. It just might take us awhile to get it right.

Spanish Music

My favorite part of class is definitely the singing at the beginning. I really think that we should perform at one of the open mike nights that the school has each month. Some of the songs that I like are La Bamba, De Colores, Guantanamera, Maria Isabelle, and a few I can't remember the names of. Having to sing the words in spanish keep me on my toes. I have to think fast about how to pronounce the lyrics and then doing it along with the music. I wish that we could have one class period where we just sang the whole time.

Destinos

Well I'm reviewing today's episode of Destinos right now and I'm thoroughly tired of the beginning of the story. I'm having a hard time concentrating on it because I know the general gist of the story and it isn't interesting anymore. I really hope that the next episode moves on to something new. This story is progressing way to slow. Its hard for me to write anything about the story in spanish because it has lost part of my attention. We've been talking about it for so long.

My First Test

We had our fist test this past class. I started to stress before the test and was a little nervous. For the test we had to say the greeting we had learned and then tell about our family. We also had to tell about Destinos and the story of Don Fernando. I had to go first and I thought I was going to do horrible. It wasn't any where near as bad as I had expected. I fell into the pattern that we had been practicing in class and I remember most of what I was supposed to say. It felt good when I came out that I was able to say so much in spanish at one time. I really relied a lot on previous spanish that I had learned in highschool. I was thankful for the spanish I had learned back then. I know from now on I'm going to have to study more for this class as I learn new words and ways of putting them in sentences. I find it exciting to be able to start to speak another language.

My First Time

Well this is a new experience for me and it may be for you as well. As well as learning Spanish this year I am learning how to use the modern conveniences of the internet(mainly how to use a blog). As class has just started as of a week or so ago I have not done a ton of studying for this class as of yet. I do find the Destinos videos to be much more interesting than the text books that I had in Spanish class in high school. I am finding that it is much easier to learn by just listening and watching to catch on to the meaning of things. I have noticed though that what little I did learn in high school Spanish is coming in very handy because it gives me a little background knowledge to base my learning on. I hope that as this class progresses I will become more confident and competent in speaking spanish.