A day trip to Calpe, Spain
Author: Danielle Shaver | Majors: Social Work and Psychological Science
I wish you could see my blank stare. Gaping eyes. Tense eyebrows. The one that screams, “What did you say to me?” and “I’m definitely not from here.” A facial expression that spills over with embarrassment and apprehension. You become quite familiar with it when learning a new language in the real world, beyond the safety of the classroom.
My name is Danielle, and I am studying Spanish in Valencia, Spain for three months. That in itself sounds like an unreal sentence, one that only shows up in Hallmark movies and cheesy coming-of-age novels. Even on the flight here, I played out what life would look like living in the south of Spain. Acoustic guitar plays in the background, reminiscent of an old, romantic film. I would skip through uneven, stone streets, surrounded by picturesque cathedrals. I would order my usual café con leche, and watch locals and tourists alike live on Spanish time, concerned only with enjoying a meal with their friends or family. Finally, after 3 months, I would leave fluent in Spanish.
The record scratches. The acoustic background music screeches to a halt…I sit down at my first restaurant and look at my first menu in Spanish. It reads:
Pulpo a la plancha con parmentier a la pimienta de la vera y algas wakame
Blank stare.
Elementary Spanish II did not prepare me for this.
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As a 4th year psychological science and social work student in the Fulbright college at the University of Arkansas, I would like to believe that I have a stable foundation in my field. I speak about constructs with professors, test research questions, and apply existing knowledge to new concepts and ideas. However, coming face to face with the Spanish language in its unfiltered, everyday environment, I frankly felt like a child—a child in 2nd grade trying desperately to learn addition while the big kids conquered long division. After the first week, and three more months ahead, something had to change.
I’ve had to adopt a new posture to learning. I’ve had to pull myself back to a place of wonder, humility, and patience. As children, we stare in awe at simple science experiments…Wonder. We ask to join new clubs out of interest rather than necessity…Excitement. But somewhere along the way, within standardized testing and college applications, we can lose the beauty of learning. We place strict deadlines on expertise and unachievable objectives, and then we are somehow surprised when burnout welcomes us earlier than we expected.
We need a new posture. One of enthusiasm. One that giggles when we make mistakes. One that makes us eager to see progress in the future.
Now, please do not misunderstand. Not being able to communicate the miniscule details of life is disheartening, and I fall into frustration. But I think this new lens of learning can further rejuvenate my future academic and professional life, within Spanish and beyond. If you’re not yet convinced, let me paint one last picture.
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I am on a cheap flight coming back to Valencia from Germany, a Ryanair flight with the safety of a six flags rollercoaster, and I sit next to a stranger with a shy “hola.” I buckle my seatbelt. I can not remember how it started, but my neighbor and I began speaking…in Spanish. His name is Carlos. Carlos is from Columbia. He is positive that the coffee in Valencia could never compare to the delicacy back home. I tell him how particular the locals are about their paella. We laugh, probably annoying the other passengers. The plane lands, and I had spoken for over an hour in Spanish—something I could not have imagined a month ago. I didn’t have time to worry about exact verb tense, and I couldn’t beat myself up over mispronunciations as I connected with somebody in their native language.
Sometimes, I still get the blank stare when a stranger asks for directions. Those tinges of embarrassment and frustration still appear when I fail to process the speed of Spanish. I no longer have the romantic, ethereal movie filter over my time in Spain. Nevertheless, having patience and the willingness to make mistakes has made learning this new world so much more colorful and vibrant.
Who could’ve known?