{"id":419,"date":"2011-03-08T10:49:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T15:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.wabash.edu\/studying-abroad\/?p=419"},"modified":"2011-03-08T10:49:26","modified_gmt":"2011-03-08T15:49:26","slug":"the-daily-struggle-between-spanish-and-english-tough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/2011\/03\/08\/the-daily-struggle-between-spanish-and-english-tough\/","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Struggle Between Spanish and English Tough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Garrett Bonk ’12<\/em> – Since day one of living in Spain I\u2019ve noticed a number of things that no text book could have ever prepare me for.\u00a0 Probably the biggest noticeable difference was Spain\u2019s various linguistic styles of speaking Spanish.\u00a0 Unlike the Latin American countries that speak Spanish, letters like \u201cc\u201d and \u201cz\u201d within Spanish words are pronounced with a \u201cth\u201d sound more or less, making every Spaniard sound like they have a wicked lisp.\u00a0 Additionally, \u201ch\u201d and\u00a0 \u201cj\u201d are pronounced as if you have something caught in your throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>And if these pronunciation issues do not pose a challenge, it is even harder to understand Spanish when traveling to different regions.\u00a0 For example, I recently visited Seville in the southern region of Spain, and found it very difficult to communicate because it is normal for the southern Spanish dialect to not pronounce the letters \u201cr\u201d, \u201cd\u201d, or \u201cs\u201d.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the language barrier has been, as mi amigo Jake Brandewie wrote earlier, an adventure. \u00a0It has been exciting to observe my growth from simply the basic knowledge of the Spanish language to a more advanced understanding of the language.\u00a0 Classes at the Fundacion de Ortega y Gasset have been very rewarding in helping me become accustomed to the language and customs.\u00a0 I have even struck a deal with one of the staff members to help him get physically stronger if he helps me improve my conversational Spanish.\u00a0 Thanks to my experiences in Spain, my Spanish vocabulary as well as grammar has improved exponentially.\u00a0 Additionally, my pronunciation has evolved to adopt many of Spain\u2019s linguistic patterns to avoid my past mispronunciations such as confusing words like \u201ctapas\u201d for \u201ctopless\u201d and \u201cIbiza\u201d with \u201cpizza\u201d.<\/p>\n

Still, I feel as if many a times my mind is experiencing some form of schizophrenia between thinking in English and Spanish, which has allowed me to become accustomed to blank stares or expressions of confusion.\u00a0 My life motto has been \u201cPaso a paso\u201d (step by step) as I conquer endeavors ranging from giving presentations and writing papers in Spanish to conversing with the locals and even flirting with the Spanish chicas.<\/p>\n

Similar to understanding the language, accustoming to the Spanish culture and traditions has been a priceless experience.\u00a0 Generally, the people of Spain are easy going and friendly.\u00a0 I have found it common for the locals to be very accepting of foreigners, like myself, and quick to develop relationships.\u00a0 For example, I have small job in Toledo helping the children of a family in Toledo understand the English language.\u00a0 After only knowing this family for a matter of a couple weeks, I have a reputation known by even their extended members of the family as \u201cThe American\u201d and have been invited to some family functions on the weekends.<\/p>\n

The Spanish nightlife is just as interesting as it involves botellons (public drinking parks) and dance clubs where Spaniards don\u2019t start partying till 2 AM and usually end their night (or morning) till 6 AM.\u00a0 Spain also has a variety of festivals, or at least what seems like, every month.\u00a0 For example, I just got done celebrating Carnival, which is similar to a mixture of Halloween and Mardi gras.\u00a0 The culture also includes great tradition like siestas (a break in the afternoon work schedule) and tapas bars (bars that offer small dishes included with the drink).<\/p>\n

Overall, my study abroad experience has been amazing.\u00a0 I can\u2019t thank Wabash enough for allowing me to have this experience.\u00a0 It truly is priceless. \u00a0Still, Spain is no Wabash, and no matter how great Spain can be, it will never overtake my loyalty and love to dear old Wabash.\u00a0 I hope everyone is enjoying their spring semester, and I look forward to hearing more about Wabash\u2019s athletic, academic, and all around success this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Garrett Bonk ’12 – Since day one of living in Spain I\u2019ve noticed a number of things that no text book could have ever prepare me for.\u00a0 Probably the biggest noticeable difference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-study-abroad"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/03\/bonk.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}