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El verano pasado fui a Costa Rica de vacaciones. Durante mi estadia alli, disfrute mucho y conocí personas nuevas. Conocí una joven de octavo grado. Su nombre era María. Vestía con una falda y una camisa y tenía un sombrero.

Erika: Hola, mi nombre es Erika. Cual es tu nombre?

Maria: Mi nombre es Maria. Tengo catorce anos. Y tu?

Erika: Yo tengo trece anos. En donde vives?

Maria: Yo vivo en San José. Y tu?

Erika: Yo vivo en Carolina del Norte. Tienes hermanos?

Maria: Si, tengo cinco hermanos. Tres hermanos y dos hermanas.

Erika: Qué edades tienen?

Maria: Tienen diez y nueve, diez y siete, diez y seis, nueve y tres.

Erika: En qué grado estás? Cual es el nombre de tu escuela?

Maria: Termine el octavo grado y en agosto voy para noveno grado. Mi escuela se llama Colegio de Santa Ana. Y tu?

Erika: Yo voy para octavo grado y mi escuela se llama Overhills Middle School.

Tuve que irme con mis papas, pero la invite a encontrarnos en el centro comercial para poder conversar más.

Al otro dia fui en autobús al centro comercial. El día estaba soleado y despejado. La temperatura estaba a ochenta y dos grados. Maria me enseno todas las cosas que vendian alli. Había mucha ropa, joyas y comidas y dulces típicos de Costa Rica.

Erika: Como es tu casa? En que calle vives?

Maria: Vivo cerca del hospital y al lado de la plaza. La calle se llama Calle de la Luz. Mi casa no es muy grande. Es de color azul y crema, y tiene cuatro cuartos. Tenemos una pequeña fuente y en el jardín sembramos verduras.

Erika: Que te gusta hacer en tu tiempo libre?

Maria: Me gusta leer en la biblioteca y dibujar. También me gusta correr la bicicleta y nadar. Y me gusta escuchar musica. También me gusta visitar el bosque lluvioso con mi familia.

Erika: Que comidas te gustan?

Maria: Cuanto tengo hambre como mis comidas favoritas. Como frutas y vegetales. Cuando voy a un restaurante, como papas fritas y arroz con habichuelas. No me gustan las carnes.

Erika: A mi me gusta comer espaguetis, bistec, papas fritas y pocos dulces.

Teníamos hambre y fuimos a almorzar. Cuando terminamos, Maria me llevo a ver la ropa y luego fuimos a ver los monumentos, la iglesia y la biblioteca. Fue divertido y estaba muy contenta!

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Maria's skirt. Picture found on Creative Commons under 'Skirt'.

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Maria's shirt. Picture found on Creative Commons under 'Yellow shirt'.

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Maria's hat. Picture found in Creative Commons under 'small hat'.

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During my time in this class, I have learned Spanish, first and foremost, and the Spanish culture in Costa Rica. It’s been exciting, and I can't wait to learn more in my next Spanish class next year.

Spanish, as a language, I think, is weird. I grew up with Spanish speaking family members, so I can understand Spanish well enough. That’s not the weird part of Spanish, though. It’s the fact that Spanish is so similar, yet so different to English. Some words are even spelled the exact same way, like plaza and plaza. Other words, though, are completely different—like Sunday and domingo. It was a bit jarring to see such similar words and seeing words that are completely different to the English counterparts because when you think of another language, you think of words that are completely different to your own.

Learning about Costa Rica’s culture was fun. Like how Spanish and English are to each other, Costa Rica is so similar yet different to Puerto Rico, where I was born. The climates are the same, the things to do are the same, and the food is the same, but there are little differences that make me think, “Wow! That’s new!” I learned everything from their housing, food, and communities, and I had a joy while doing so. It reminded me of my own home in Puerto Rico, and it made me happy.

If I continue learning more Spanish, I want to learn about other Spanish cultures. I want to learn about places like Spain and the Dominican Republic. I want to see how my culture will differ to theirs. I also want to be able to speak and read more fluently in Spanish, as those are the areas I most struggle in when it comes to Spanish. I can understand it well, though, as—like I said earlier—I grew up around people who speak Spanish.

Learning in an online class was a new experience. It was fast and simple, but I think I much rather would just be in a regular classroom with other students and a teacher that I can regularly interact with. I liked the way that some notes at the end were just given to you so you only needed to type and scroll down for the notes, and hear the pronunciation if you needed to. I didn't really didn't like the video portions of the notes, because they continued even when you needed to stop, or would sometimes be too slow. Sometimes, I couldn't even switch from my document to the video, because the video would turn black and only give me the audio.

I also didn't really enjoy the RLC’s. Again, like the videos, they either went too fast or too slow, and the teacher also had to consider everyone’s needs. I think they should replace the RLC’s with a presentation at the beginning of the unit with all the notes. It would be of much more convenience.

What helped me learn Spanish were my parents. While taking notes, my parents looked at what I did and helped me with the pronunciation or with the definitions. They would give me example sentences as well, so I could get used to the new words and understand them. Next year, I think I might try to focus on my grammar and get better at writing and speaking.

When it came to my instructor helping, I have mixed feelings. My teacher helped me—a lot. She gave me feedback on what I could have done better, and encouraged me on things subjects that I wasn't good in. When I started late, Ms. Forte answered any and all questions I had when I was confused about my assignments. However, I felt that it was just hard to speak to her. This isn't new to me—I have a hard time speaking to new people or strangers, but I feel like the anxiety was worsened due to the fact that the course was online. I am not good at writing emails, and I get nervous when writing them, so I try not to if I don't have to.

This was my experience in Spanish One! It was a new experience for me, but one that I don’t know if I would repeat. I am happy for finishing this course, and I can’t wait to take Spanish again.

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Picture found Creative Commons under 'Costa Rica'.