What a Wander Round Town will Teach You (PART I)

If you are going to take the plunge and head to South America for Spanish lessons then you are sure to have the time of your life. As you get to grips with verbs, nouns and a bewildering variety of tenses you will also want to investigate the place you stay in. Here are three of the parts of town you should check out, and what they will teach you.

The Plaza

Even the smallest towns are likely to have a pretty plaza or two. The plaza principal is where you are likely to find the best restaurants and bars, along with plenty of benches for chilling out under a palm tree. There is usually a lonely looking guy offering to take photos, a woman squeezing oranges to sell the juice and a few shoeshine boys looking about for customers. You might consider this to be the most touristy part of the place but you can still add to your Spanish classes if you go about it the right way. A lot of the town’s well off professionals are likely to frequent the restaurants and striking up a conversation with them can give you a lot of useful information. Don’t forget the shoeshine boys and the orange juice ladies though, as they often have some great one liners ready for the tourists.