{"id":6999,"date":"2015-02-24T15:26:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T15:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.studyabroad101.com\/?p=6999"},"modified":"2022-06-21T09:33:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T13:33:09","slug":"but-how-did-study-abroad-help-me-in-my-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyabroad101.com\/blog\/2015\/02\/but-how-did-study-abroad-help-me-in-my-career\/","title":{"rendered":"But How Did Study Abroad Help Me In My Career?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Puzzled<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Static<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When I arrived in Barajas Airport in Madrid, I was greeted by Cristina Blanco, the (fabulous) director of the\u00a0program. My mouth felt sticky, I was terribly jet-lagged, and still left-over anxious over having had my visa inspected. When I saw Cristina holding the sign that said CIEE (just like the literature said she would be), and wearing a big smile, I was relieved. At least, I was relieved until she said \u201csshhhrrrrshhsshhrrr.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was what castellano<\/em> sounded like to me.<\/p>\n

I smiled emptily at her. \u201c\u00bfC\u00f3mo?<\/em>\u201d I asked. \u00a0\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSshhhrrrrsshrr,\u201d she repeated kindly, pointing over to a growing group of young people about my age.<\/p>\n

Over there. She wanted me to go over there and join the rest of the group. I nodded and moved in the direction she indicated, but I had understood nothing. I was terrified.<\/p>\n

It all felt so unfair. I had studied Spanish in school for eight years. I knew words! I knew a lot of words! I listened to Juanes<\/a> all the time! I liked Pedro Almod\u00f3var<\/a> films! And instead of feeling confident, the entire world turned into static.<\/p>\n

At first I cried a lot. I was exhausted after having a five minute conversation with my host family. I fell asleep watching my English language DVDs every night. But after two weeks or so the static began to clear out. The shhhhrrrrshhhhhh sounds distilled into words that I recognized and could soon use. Two months in, I was able to joke with my host family, and on the airplane home I was able to discuss Spanish politics in Spanish.<\/p>\n

editors note:<\/strong> You can read the full program review on Abroad101!<\/em><\/pre>\n
But how did this help me in my career?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I teach American Literature and ESL (English as a Second Language) in a high school in Queens, New York. Approximately 70% of my students are former English Language Learners, and of these 55% speak Spanish at home. Speaking Spanish is obviously useful. Anywhere you work in the world, speaking Spanish can only be an asset. But you probably already knew that.<\/p>\n
Those two weeks I spent lost in static taught me more about second language acquisition than I could learn from a textbook. The strategies I used are strategies that I encourage my students to use.<\/p>\n