The girls of Ms.Charles form 5 Spanish class had a unique and special treat as they met with 6 University presenters from different Spanish-speaking countries such as Columbia, Venezuela and Costa Rica. The girls’ were split up into 6 groups, and were told to communicate and ask them about themselves and find out about their culture as well as telling them ours.
These were some of the girls’ comments:
-“We didn’t only learn better Spanish; we also learnt more about their culture and where they came from.”
-“My presenter was outspoken, and enjoyed hearing about the us a lot.She loved hearing about the culture as she went to almost all the tourist attractions in TnT. It was a good experience as she helped us a lot with the construction of conversational sentences in Spanish.”
-“This showed me that i could go to a Spanish speaking country and be able to communicate with the native speakers.”
-“I realized that I could interpret the questions or situations they asked and be able to answer them which was really great.”
-“It was difficult but funny trying to explain Trinidadian terms in Spanish. He was quite friendly to talk to.”
A student said that it was quite interesting explaining their culture to the presenters. For example, the girls were trying to ask a female presenter if she attended any fetes, but since there’s no Spanish word for fete, they said ” a grande fiesta.” After she said no, the girls offered to take in which she then asked them, “Isn’t it illegal for you to go?” thinking that you had to be 21 and over in order to go. She also didn’t like doubles because she couldn’t understand it; and she couldn’t tolerate pepper; and even KFC’s original chicken was too peppery for her.
In return however, they learnt, besides personal information on the presenters, that the same word is said differently in different Spanish countries, and the accents vary in each country as well. In Columbia, English is taught but there’s no one to speak it which is why they aren’t good at pronunciation, hence the reason for coming to Trinidad. Also, they have to work to make money in order to go out to places; and their schools back home are not privileged as we are because they don’t have a/c.
Overall, the students and presenters thoroughly enjoyed themselves and some even remained in contact to help one another out. To this form 5 class, it was an absolute treat and one they shall never forget.