Inside the Classroom

Well, my time is running down and I have been trying to cram as much fun in as possible. It has been such a blast. Again, as usual, this post encompasses many days of entries. 

School has been super great, as well as very difficult. Ever since they put me in the new, higher level, things in general are just harder. However, challenging is good. I also love my classmates. We really represent a global diversity. We have been doing all kinds of practice with different past tenses. I really just love our random converations about current events the best. Of course my vocabulary is expanding, but I am also learning lots about different phrases to use for different activities. Again, everything is different in Spain. I mean, it is still Spanish and all, but so many things are different. I love it though. I love learning, and getting to really use it, the real dialect. Grammar is important and all, but I just like conversation. Plus, I really think that is so much of a faster way to learn the language than to spend years in a classroom with basically no outside practice. Plus, of course, this is way more fun. 

We learned a new tense, the preterite imperfect. I love this tense. It is so much easier than all of the other tenses we have learned so far. Plus, it sounds cool, and I think it is easier to pronounce in general. Also, unlike every other verb tense, there are only 3 irregulars. Miraculous!!! But really. Also, i feel as if the times when you are supposed to use it are so much easier (you know without the if ands or buts). I guess I just love this tense. 

Estar calvo- to be bald. Good thing this doesn't run in my family. 

Also, I learned the difference between saying an old friend and an old friend. 

Viejo amigo- an old friend, as in you have known them for a long time. 

Amigo viejo- an old friend, as in they are old, like in years

I feel as if this small difference is super important, kind of like in our sentences when we leave out commas. 

I've learned where to put things in a sentence, and how direct and indirect "complements" work. For example, when using indirect, the sex of the word doesn't matter, but with direct it does. This is all still very confusing to me, but I suppose I did learn something. We have also done a lot of review with reflexive verbs, but I really feel as if that is one of the easiest thing to master. However, then there is also adding in those "complementos", that's what they call them. 

I also learned a new comparitive phrase, using "tanto como" to describe equal things, instead of like " mas que" and "menos que". 

We discussed the current economical condition of Spain. Aka, everyone in the U.S. needs to stop complaining. In all of Spain in general, the desempleo (unemployment) rate is about 25%. For youth, it is even worse. There are many people leaving to find work elsewhere. I wonder if all of the tourism in the summer helps, because I feel like (especially as the summer continues) that there just influxes more and more tourists. 

I know this sounds wierd, but I really don't even feel like a tourist anymore. I really feel like I live here, which is among many of reasons to which I do not want to leave.