Senor Temple :)

I love speaking Spanish and being able to know a different language! Sometimes I feel like it's a secret code language, because not everyone knows it! Many times in composition class my teacher Mrs. Temple says things in Spanish. She's really good at it because she use to teach Spanish. Sometimes we even connect some of our vocabulary words to Spanish words to help us remember them. When Mrs. Temple talks in Spanish I love answering back confidently, because not everyone in our comp class took Spanish, and especially didn't take four years of it. I like when people in the class respond with "what?" and I know what she's talking about! It makes me laugh. One day, I answered, "Si senorita." But then i realized she's married, so I can't call her senorita, it's senora. Then I began wondering how different Spanish class would be if we called our teacher "Senora" instead of "Senorita" because we don't call our Spanish teacher, now, anything else but Senorita. I'm glad Senora Temple is my English teacher and that Senorita is my Spanish teacher! It just seems right that way! :)

Arizona

When people think of Arizona they think of Mexicans or many other different cultures. Soemtimes. I do the same. I think that is because of the extremely hot weather and the location of Arizona. It's located near Texas and New Mexico, which are both thought of as having a Mexican population as well. My mom was born and raised in Arizona, my sister Annie and I were born there, and my grandparents lived there for many many years of their lives as well. My mom didn't move to Iowa until I was three. When Annie or I want to study Spanish vocabulary or talk to each other in Spanish, my mom can't even help or understand us. My sisters and I thought this was very weird, considering where she grew up and spent mostly all of her life. She said she never learned Spanish and didn't have to. She even told us that there were only a few Spanish speaking students in her whole school, most were white, American. I found this odd as well. My grandma said she doesn't know any Spanish either. She said she was around Spanish speaking people quite a few times, but didn't need to know it and didn't bother learning it. I'm glad I know Spanish, because the world is becoming more diverse and I know it will come in handy sometime! :)

YeeHaw!

My favorite subject throughout high school has definitely been Spanish. I love the fact that I can speak a different language...well kinda anyway. For awhile I thought about minoring in Spanish when I got to college. After, I looked up what colleges offer Spanish, I found out that my dream school, Mount Mercy, didn't offer it. I was so sad. :( I began to look at other schools close to home that offer Spanish and the major that I wanted. Once I found Loras I thought I was set. I could study everything I wanted to. Then I realized that I really wanted to go to MMU and that Loras wasn't for me. So, I let go of the fact that I wouldn't be able to study Spanish like I wanted to. Recently I went on a college visit to MMU where they told me I CAN study Spanish! I was so happy that I will be able to go to my dream school and minor in Spanish! :)

Subway Espanol

Since I have been working at Subway many Spanish speaking families have come in and ordered from us. Once there was this family who came in and none of them spoke any English so I had to translate for them. I had to individually make everyone of their Subs by myself because no one else understood a word they were saying. I patiently waited and conversed with them and even had a few laughs because of my mispronunciation of some words and from a joke one told me(which I barely understood). I served everyone in the family only speaking Spanish and we actually understood each other. I enjoyed the time I got to talk to them and learned a lot from how fast they talked and how many times I had to ask please slow down. I learned a lot from the experience. My boss was proud of me for taking on the challenge when no one else would.

Olivia :D

For Christmas a year or two ago, I got a new radio. When I opened it, there were only one set of instructions: Spanish ones. I was only in Spanish one or two so I barely understood what they were saying. I "winged it" and just threw the instructions in the box to set up the rest of the speakers.

Recently I had to go back upstairs in our storage room and find the box for our Playstation to send in for repair. While I was up there, I accidentally dropped my radio box. The instructions came out so I picked them up and looked at them. I was surprised to see that the two more years of knowledge from Spanish 3 and 4 helped me greatly. I could comprehend most of what was written on the page! I felt very proud of my Spanish knowledge. :D

Olivia :D

Neither of my parents or my brother took Spanish as a foreign language. So, I got bored one day and changed the language to Spanish on my brother's phone. He asked my parents for help but, because they had no background knowledge, they couldn't help. After a while of struggling, he handed the phone back to me and told me to change it. I used this as black-mail and told him that he had to make breakfast before I would change it back. So, with my knowledge of Spanish helping me, I got my brother to make me eggs for breakfast! It was a simple way to get what I want using what I know. :D

Olivia :D

Over our four day weekend I watched some movies to pass the time. While watching them Spanish came up in different parts. Most of the time the movies would have dialogue at the bottom so English speaking people would know what they were saying but sometimes it wouldn't come up. While watching the movie one part the guy said "death to you all" in Spanish. I chuckled because I understood what was being said and the rest of my family didn't. I felt smarter because I could comprehend more of the movie (even though I've seen it a thousand times) through comprehending the Spanish parts. :D

(Sorry about the green background... It wouldn't let me change it and I don't know why it changed in the first place)