Language Lessons Continued

Sundays in Medellin are quiet. The young people are recovering from their late nights out, while others are going to church and exercising along certain main roads which are closed every week to encourage walking, running, and cycling.

On Monday, I resumed the English for Spanish language lessons with Rodrigo. We began with Spanish, reviewing a sample of the 50 or so words I had to look up in the first five pages of a novel he gave me.

I was supposed to write a little about the first 15 pages, but I could barely understand what was happening. We then reviewed the Spanish alphabet, numbers, and how to tell time.

He encouraged me to spend the time standing, rather than sitting, to keep the energy level high. He also made sure I wasn´t standing with my arms crossed.

When it was my turn to teach, he asked that I project my voice to help him hear well.  As I´d hoped, my plans to teach were going to help improve my public speaking as well.

His class turned out to be fun, though I suggested the newspaper for my second homework assignment as it is easier for me to comprehend.

My English class began with the alphabet too, however Rodrigo was strong on it, so we moved on to numbers where I think I was able to give some useful feedback.

He is very good about pointing out where he has trouble, which makes my job easier. Then, we moved on to the days of the week and months of the year.

Lastly, I had him dictate some animal names just as he had me do. And before I knew it, our two hours were up.

We fine-tuned my teaching advertisement as well, having already established the rates last Friday.

I think I am finally ready to post it around the EAFIT campus, and elsewhere if the response is muted. Gaining EAFIT students would be great as the university offers the perfect meeting place and is a short bus ride from my apartment.

I also intend to post the rates on this site, which will work well with the more traditional forms of advertising.