Why Learn Spanish in South America, Part I

I guess that everyone who learns a foreign language does it in a different way and for a different reason. My chance with Spanish lessons came when I decided to take a career break and do voluntary work in South America.

If I said that learning a different language can change your outlook on life it might seem a bit of an exaggeration, but after my experiences I genuinely believe that it is a great way to get a better vision of the world and the people who live in it. It also gives you the opportunity to learn about things you never even knew existed.

I arrived in Quito in Ecuador having tried and failed to pick up a few words and expressions to learn Spanish before leaving the UK. I had found that listening to a tape recording and then trying to repeat the phrases just wasn’t for me, and had decided that I would struggle through my short time in South America with what amounted to the vocabulary of a one year old.

This all changed when the conservation job I was doing started with a three day Spanish course. This might not seem like much time, but I found that being immersed in the language and actually hearing it being spoken to me naturally gave me a real feel for it and a desire to learn more. The teacher would take us on trips to the colourful local market where we would buy exotic fruits from the friendly stallholders and then take them back to the class to cut them open, taste them and discuss them.