Sunday, March 13, 2016

Never been so happy to speak Espanol!

We had a leisurely morning and took a taxi down to the beach. The beach was very busy, locals with their families, lots of children. It could have been a boardwalk anywhere in the US except It was cleaner and quieter quieter; lots of stores, lots of restaurants and you are allowed to use the restrooms without making a purchase. On our way home we found a taxi and the driver Ahmed spoke Spanish, he had worked in Spain for 10 years and was very friendly. I had never been so happy in my life to speak Spanish. We have been navigating through three and four languages in a single conversation : French,, Tamazigh, Derija, French, English,  Fahsa. This conversation was the first one in which I understood every word!


26 comments:

  1. I know what you mean, its like in Spanish or another foreign language course, the moment when you finally understand what the teacher says and can communicate and actually do something rather than struggling to keep up. It reminds me of when I moved to Arizona, everything was different, I didn't know anyone, and the people in general were a bit different than the deep south; but when you do find friends that you connect with and can be yourself around 100% of the time, it just feels great.

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  2. That is so cool, one day I hope to speak spanish and communicate with my family in Dominican Republic. I am so jealous that you got to go there.

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  3. That is so cool, one day I hope to speak spanish and communicate with my family in Dominican Republic. I am so jealous that you got to go there.

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  4. I am glad that I am in a Spanish class right now. I wish to travel the world including places that have a native spanish language. When visiting a place without know the native language, it can be hard to actually enjoy everything. When you do know the native language it makes the experience so much better. -Hailey H.

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    1. I hope you travel lots of places, Hailey and email me lots of pictures =) The world is full of amazing places to see and interesting people to meet.

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  5. im taking a Spanish class right now and did not know that they spoke Spanish in Morroco ! How cool¡¿

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  6. When I traveled to Peru several years ago, I was only able to understand pieces of the conversations because the language is Spanish. Now that I have been in Spanish class for two years, I would be much more confident in my ability to have conversations. The boardwalk in Morocco, while also similar to the ones in the U.S., is also similar to one of the main tourist attractions in Cuba, Malecón. This is a stretch of walkway, that allows for everyone to see the beautiful ocean, while shopping in the stores along the shore.

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  7. That is amazing luck! This reminds me of the Spanish class i'm taking right now, and this shows proof that learning another language can really help, even if the place your going isn't based around it, someone around there should be able to speak it as well!

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    1. Perfect! I really do want my students to realize that learning another language (or two or three) will benefit you throughout the world and here at home. Being able to communicate with more people is a wonderful thing!

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  8. I'm taking Spanish 3-4, and the language is quite easy for me to learn. I haven't had any chances to use it outside of school yet, but I'm sure that it'll be a great advantage for me in the future.

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  9. I've traveled to Mexico a few times (really the only spanish-speaking country I've been to) and of course you hear the spanish language spoken throughout the whole country. I can definitely understand the language a lot more through the Spanish classes I've taken.

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  10. The only time that I have traveled out of country to a Spanish speaking country was Mexico last Christmas and I had only been in Spanish 2 at the time. Knowing only limited Spanish I understood pieces of conversations and was able to dinner at a restaurant. Being in Spanish 3-4 right gives me more confidence because I know more vocabulary and have reviewed the lessons that were taught in the previous years.

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  11. Languages are apart of the cultural diversity that both America and Morocco are subject to. The ability to learn about different languages here in the U.S. is privilege. In Morocco, it feels like only immigrants really know other outside languages. There is a disconnect between some countries. In U.S. public schools, we can't learn Moroccan. However, in Morocco, there are classes you can take to learn English.

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  12. That is so cool! One day I hope to travel around the world that's why I am taking a Spanish class now. It would be hard to be in a country without speaking their language.

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  13. It must be so exciting to have a conversation in multiple languages! Knowing multiple languages makes you such a versatile person, and helps you out in so many ways, like the one you talked about. It also makes you a more well rounded, educated person. I am taking Spanish for this very reason. It would help so much, especially considering our proximity to Mexico.

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  14. Speaking two languages is not an easy thing to do. I am attempting to speak Dutch to communicate with my family in the Netherlands, and is definitely extremely difficult. It always helps to know how to speak the language of the country you are going to!

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  15. Speaking two languages is not an easy thing to do. I am attempting to speak Dutch to communicate with my family in the Netherlands, and is definitely extremely difficult. It always helps to know how to speak the language of the country you are going to!

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  17. I have traveled to Mexico before and having learned Spanish for 8 years now really helps me to be able to talk to the people there, I hope to travel there and to other country's in South America again to speak in more advanced sentences rather then just basic sentences .

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  18. A lot of places I go to in Arizona also seem to have many people who speak Spanish. Every once in a while I can understand what they are talking about, and it surprises me that I'm able to do that. It just goes to show you that learning a second language can be helpful. I hope that after some more classes I'll be able to understand even more and carry on conversations.

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  19. The only time that I have traveled out of country to a Spanish speaking country was Mexico a year ago on a cruise and I had only been in Spanish 1 at the time. Knowing only limited Spanish I understood pieces of conversations and was able to dinner at a restaurant. Now that I am in Spanish 3-4 it right gives me more confidence to speak in a more educated way. When we go over vocabulary and have reviewed the lessons that were taught in the previous years it all starts to make sense!

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  20. This reminds me of a couple weeks ago when I spent the night at my friend's house who is Mexican. During dinner her entire family was speaking Spanish and I could understand bits and pieces of the conversation. I talked about my hobbies, favorite foods and sports, school, etc. I was so happy that they could understand me!

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  21. Its crazy to think how in a single area so many different languages can be used! One of the main reasons i'm currently taking Spanish is to hopefully understand more and more languages so if I do ever go on trips like yours I will be able to understand at least bits and pieces!

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  22. The mix of so many different cultures in one area through language is very interesting. As I am learning Spanish right now, I would love to be able to use it in situations like this when I travel to other countries in the future!

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  23. One of the few times that I have traveled out of the United States to go to a Spanish-speaking country was when I traveled to Costa Rica with a group of students from my middle school two years ago. As I did not know a lot of Spanish at the time, it was difficult for me to understand some of the conversations that the locals had, even though I did know some of the words that they were saying then. As a result, it was hard for me to communicate much in Spanish. Now that I am in Spanish 3-4, I feel far more confident in my Spanish-speaking abilities, and understand the connections between the vocabulary that we are learning now and the vocabulary that I learned one or two years ago.

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  24. It must have been a relief to speak Spanish because after all Arabic is a hard language to learn. I remember when I went to Japan last summer, that I knew very minimal Japanese, and when I found someone that spoke English or a different language, it was different, but a big sigh of relief. That is why I am learning Spanish, so that I can talk to people when I go on trips to Spanish speaking countries. I know here in Arizona, Spanish is spoken a lot, so it's fun to finally be able to understand what people are saying at times.

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