What They Don't Teach in Spanish Class (and should)

I left home thinking I was pretty good at Spanish. Although I've only taken it for a year and a half, I study a lot on the side and figure out other tenses and stuff like that on my own. But when I came, I realized that there are a LOT of words that have never been taught to me. A lot of these also only apply to Spain but here we go.


1. vale
Probably the most important thing that not enough people know is the word "vale". It is used a lot and means "OK".
 ex) "Necesitamos salir de la casa a las ocho para que no tardemos." "Vale."
meaning: "We need to leave the house at eight so that we're not late." "Okay."

2. molar
There's a verb that is also used a fair amount, molar. It means to be cool or fascinating or interesting. It can be used when one might say "me fascina" or "me encanta" or "me interesa". It also has adjective forms: "molón" and "molona"
ex) "Acabo de comprar un nuevo reloj. Qué opinas?" "Me mola mucho."
meaning: "I just bought a new watch. What do you think?" "It's really cool!"

My friend asking me to take a picture off instagram.

3. tío/a

Literally, they mean aunt and uncle. But most of the time, they are used to mean dude, bro, chick, girl, etc.

4. no hace falta
This isn't really slang but it's common to say. It means "there's no need".

5. qué tal?
In Spain at least, basically no one says "cómo estás?" To ask how it's going or what's up, you almost always say "Qué tal?" A typical response is just "bien". 

6. majo
It means pleasant, likable, nice. 
ex) "Qué te parece la gente aquí?" "Muy maja."
meaning: "What do you think of the people here?" "Very nice."
And I can confirm that the people of Tres Cantos, Madrid are majísimas. 

7. word shortening
Bolígrafo becomes boli. Película becomes peli. Bicicleta becomes bici. Matemática becomes mates. Profesor(a) becomes profe. Motocicleta becomes moto. Televisión becomes tele. Cumpleaños becomes cumple. 

A "peli" that I watched with my family in Spanish

I'm sure that there are a lot more. But for now, this is all I can think of. I've been here for a week and have already learned a lot about the culture and language. There will for sure be another post like this.

After My First Day of School

Today was my first day of school at IES Jorge Manrique, which is located just 1 minute walking away from my house. I gave the school a packet from AFS that was basically about what to do with me and the proceeded and welcomed me and gave me a tour and led me to my class.

Let me explain the Spanish school system first. After 6 years of what I would call "elementary school" (ages 6-12), you go to ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria), which lasts for 4 years. I'm a Sophomore and I'm 16 so I'm in the last year of ESO, which is 4o. At my school, there are 5 classes/groups of the fourth year of ESO and I'm in group 4C. 

You stay in the same class almost all day with the same set of people. The exceptions are classes like lab science where you need to actually go somewhere. 

School Differences Observed:

1. Students are much more casual with their teachers, talking to them like friends and using "tú" form. 
2. Teachers are also called by their first name or "profe"
3. The students stay in the class and the teachers come to you. 
4. In math, decimals and numbers greater than a thousand are written differently. ex) 3.14 is 3,14 and 2,500 is 2.500 and 0.75 is 0'75
5. You can choose where you want to sit.
6. People still raise their hand if they really want to speak and get the attention of the teacher but generally, people just shout out. It's really fun actually.
7. The notebooks are taller and filled with graphing paper. And the binders have 4 rings instead of 3.
8. Guys here, contrary to the stereotypes, actually have very pretty handwriting.
9. Homework is very minimal and only a couple of the teachers give it. I'm pretty sure they rarely check it so no one really does it.

This is my schedule for school that I got. It's a little difficult to understand but people are pretty helpful. They tell me things like "Terrence, si no entiendes algo o necesitas ayuda, dime, vale?" Schools starts at 8:15 and on Mondays and Fridays ends at 2:25. The rest of the days go till 3:20. 

Everyone in the school (called un Instituto) was really friendly and nice. They welcomed me and wanted to get to know me. They ask a lot of questions about the United States and California. And probably because I look pretty different and stand out, they often approach me and try to befriend me. It's really nice. In "la clase de ampliación de biología", they all sang me happy birthday. On WhatsApp, the main social network of Spaniards, they have a group chat for the class and they added me to it and welcomed me. We talk about what we need to know/study, test dates, homework help, etc.

People here don't seem to hate school and I find myself looking forward to the next school day.

I'm excited for the next few days of school to really get settled in and I can already feel my Spanish improving. Sometimes, I go a full few minutes understanding everything that the teacher is saying.

Pretty exciting.

First Observations of Culture

I haven't made a blog post in a while because I've been super busy with applying or my visa, which ended up being a lot harder than the actual application for the AFS program. But the most exciting news is that I am now writing from the town of Tres Cantos in Madrid.

I have already posted my first vlog on Youtube. It has my last couple of days in California and my first couple of days in Spain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQJS2ljKYLw

I just wanted to make a short post about what I've observed so far about Spanish culture.

Here we go!

1. People here are very friendly and are less awkward in general about meeting new people unlike in America. 
2. You're greeted by two kisses on the cheeks. You go to the left first generally. The only situation this doesn't happen is between two guys.
3. Eating habits are pretty cool. It is a little more rare to see people eating with their hands. My host mom made me a sandwich and I picked it up with my hands and she looked at me like I was crazy. 
4. The meal times are different. There's desayuno, which is usually light, a snack, almuerzo, which is huge at about 3pm, another snack, and cena, which is super late at like 10pm at my house.
5. Most of our meals are served with a piece of bread on the side. You use the bread to push food onto your fork and any juice left over. It's actually really cool.
6. This is growing in America too, but they are pretty conscious about sorting waste and trash. And the plastic bags at the grocery store are biodegradable.
7. Jamón is a pretty big deal here. You can get huge blocks of it at the supermercado and it can be sliced up and served for dinner. We had some last night.
8. People are really casual about curse words here. With young people or old people around, you still hear people saying "joder", "hostia", etc.
9. They watch a lot of American television with Spanish dubs. It's actually really funny but it's a great way to learn Spanish.
10. There is less of an emphasis on political correctness. But people here are super nice and have good intentions almost always.
11. Everyone is on WhatsApp and uses it for texting. I had to learn how to use it but it's actually really cool and useful.
12. People generally have a two-part last name with their dad's last name first. 
13. Family here (or at least mine) is very close. People spend very little time in their own rooms and when they do, the doors a often left wide open. 
14. For siesta, my family puts on a movie and falls asleep to it together on the couch. It's really sweet.
15. None of the doors in my house lock, even the bathrooms.
16. Everyone in my family can cook and makes really good food. 
17. It is common for kids to live with their parents until they feel financially stable. Both of my host siblings that live at home are over 18. I like this system.
18. People seem to also be on their phones less. That'll probably change in a couple of years too.

Overall, I'm really enjoying myself and like it here. The cultural aspects are very fun to observe. 

Tomorrow is my first day of school and after a few days, I'll likely make another post about that.

AFS Application Process

I was originally inspired to study abroad when I saw some YouTube videos about other high schoolers that had done it. When I looked up program through which I could be a foreign exchange student, AFS was the first one that was suggested. I researched and that same day started my application.

Of course, I had to convince my parents to allow me to do this huge adventure to a different country without them. My dad was easy to convince because he is always for me experiencing new things, but my mom needed some persuasion. I just needed to mention what I could gain from the experience and how it could benefit who I am as a person. (more independent, better at languages, it would teach me to carry through with ideas till the end) She also ended up being not too hard to convince.

The application process was long and a little complicated. This is the the list of things on the side of the website that I needed to complete. They started off as orange boxes, turned to checkmarks, and eventually the locks that are seen here.

Cover
This was basically a picture of myself that would be used as an International Student ID Card.

Personal
This page was some information about your contact information and the contact information of your family.

Placement
This was an electronic form that would help determine host families that would be right for you. Some info included whether you have religious needs, allergies to animals, smoking, etc.

Health Certificates
For this, I had to go to the doctor's office and give them a form to fill out and I scanned it and uploaded it to my application page.

Self Intro
This was a page long letter that was addressed to your host family telling them about yourself.

Photo
This one was pretty fun. I basically had to upload some pictures of me doing things I like to do with friends and family.

Parent Statement
This was an agreement from my parents that I had their consent to be applying. They also answered some questions in essay form about how I am as a person.

Academic Record
I had to get a copy of my transcript from my vice principal and it had information about my school habits for the last 3 years. The GPA requirement is only 2.0 so it wasn't super challenging.

Participation Agreement
This was like the parent statement except for myself.

Consent
This was basically a form that stated that everyone in our family was on the same page.

Letter Of Recommendation 
We had to get someone, preferably a teacher, to write a letter of recommendation about how we are in class and what kind of person we are. I had my freshman Spanish teacher write it for me.

After I sent the completed application, it took a couple weeks, but I heard that AFS USA had accepted my application. The next step was to send it over to AFS Spain which then accepted the application a few more weeks after that. This acceptance confirmed that they would guarantee to find me a host family and I was now fully admitted into the program which was obviously very exciting.

PS I am now 50% to my fundraising goal!

Go Fund Me!

Hello!

My name is Terrence Li and I am studying abroad in Spain this coming Spring semester. I plan to go through a foreign exchange program called AFS. AFS has been incredibly helpful and professional about the application process which was rather complicated and long, making sure we're prepared for our time abroad, and many other things! But now my application has been accepted so it appears that this is really happening, which excites me a lot. I'll probably make future post about the process of AFS and what's been going on with that.

This is the blog where I will make regular entries about my experiences and what I've been learning throughout the preparation process and while I'm there.

I also started a fundraising campaign on Go Fund Me to help me pay for this rather expensive experience and people so far have been incredible and generous. I've of course been cutting certain things out of my daily budgets to save money and picking up a few extra jobs. But the fact that people are so willing to help me brings me so much joy. Here are the links to details around that: 

Go Fund Me

Fundraising Video

In addition to this blog, I plan to make YouTube videos on my channel to provide more of an in-depth visual of what is going on in my life. The link will be provided once the first video is up.

Thanks for all the support!

113 days away!