Re-lindo

OK, first of all I know it's been a while since our last post. Life gets in the way of the blog sometimes . . . it's a vicious cycle, you know? Anyhow, for a while now I've been thinking about blogging about Spanish language learning here in Argentina. What better way to do it than to enroll in a class myself?

My fellow foreigners standing in line for testing

8 weeks ago I decided to register for a Spanish class for foreigners that I'd been hearing about from some of my teacher friends. I have to tell you that it is really very interesting to be "on the other side", i.e. show up for the cattle call to be tested (this was pretty much a free class offered to the community; you are requested to make a donation for registration and required to buy your book), return to the office to find out your level, find out if there is a space for you, and learn what time the course is offered. I didn't expect to enjoy the course so much, but I was thrilled to be a "student." Thank goodness (for the sake of my ego), I had placed into Nivel Avanzado (Advanced Level). I feared having too many gringos in my class (didn't want to speak a word of English), but was pleased to find that my class was made up of 5 ladies from Brazil, Czech Republic, and Ukraine! The most interesting thing about this course was that is was, of course, in Argentina with all the related Argentine-specific expressions and jargon. Re-lindo (pronounced RAY LEEN-DO), for example, means Muy Lindo (Very lovely). In other words, Argentines are very fond of leaving the word "muy" behind in favor of adding the pre-fix "re". We not only often hear re-lindo, but re-triste, re-interesante, re-lleno (to mean very full after a good meal), and re-dulce (to describe those strawberries that are in season). Not to mention the fillers such as: Que se yo? , Dale!, Viste?, and Mira vos!

My classroom was the one with the gold bricks

All that being said, it was "re-interesante" to be exposed to topics in the text materials that really almost shocked me. I guess I am a really victim of a "politically correct" nation as I had never in a million years expected that we'd cover topics such as Victoria Beckham's new diamond-encrusted birthday present (which was a vibrator), a ghost story in which a dog is hanged in the end, a criminal case in which the murdered woman's son is suspected of killing her, a cartoon which shows a husband finding his wife in bed with another, and a discussion of a painting which depicts the Last Supper as an Argentine asado (barbecue). In another book, a famous Argentine 'teach Spanish to foreigners' text, a dialog depicts a man who intentionally makes his wife mad because she 'looks sexy when she's angry'. There is another reading that describes what men and women do in their free time: men talk about football and watch women, and women complain about people at work and discuss shopping.

The upshot is that all these topics are provocative and encourage you to pay attention, understand the vocabulary, and have an opinion. All good ingredients for language learning. I guess in the end I have more respect for topics that I would never imagine seeing in a textbook . . . I never knew I was so "protected" in that way . . . Overall, I really enjoyed the classes and feel that they really gave me an insight into the culture in many ways. I made some new friends, got the chance to feel like a student, passed the oral and written exams, and will receive a certificate showing my level as "Post-Avanzado". Re-lindo, ¿no?