¡Hola!
¿Habla español?
I think I've always enjoyed language learning, maybe because I had an aptitude for it. I enjoyed French lessons in school. Managed to survive with a little Hindi and Telugu while I was living in Hyderabad. However, I did not do well in Tamil, my mother tongue. That I put down to a lack of application rather than a lack of capability. I do regret it now, your language is an integral part of your identity and you realize it's importance only after you're grown.
Anyways, I was looking through a local newspaper one day and saw that Hounslow Adult and Community Education had advertised a variety of classes from accounting, business management to art, music and language learning, in various locations across the Borough.
Under language learning, Italian and Spanish stood out to me. Spanish being the third most spoken language in the world after Mandarin and English and with most countries in South America and large parts of southern USA also speaking it, I went with Spanish.
I signed up for an 8 week course at the Isleworth Leisure Centre & Library and I loved it so much that once the course was over, I signed up for another 8 weeks!
The classes are held every Thursday, for two hours from 11:00 to 13:00.
Our tutor is a lovely lady called Maria Khan from the Meadowbank Adult Education Centre who is a native speaker. She brings so much of the energy and passion characteristic of her people to her lessons.
Speaking the language is emphasized over mind numbing grammar and theory. Thanks to Maria, I now have a fairly decent Spanish vocabulary. I can now introduce myself, talk about my family, ask basic questions, order food, express likes, dislikes and generally survive a holiday in any Spanish speaking nation.
Amigos de la clase de español
The atmosphere is comfortable and friendly and most folks in class are nice, though you do get to meet some colourful personalities. We never have a dull day in class. We laugh, joke, have fun and yet we are learning all along. And that really is the best way to go about it!
If you want to learn Spanish and can't make it to a class, a website/app like duolingo can get you started on the basics. It's a lot like an online game, it's free and it lets you practice writing, reading and speaking. If you want to compare scores with me, my account is dxavier7 on duolingo.
Get going, get learning!
¡Adios mis amigos!
