On Learning Spanish Para Mejorar Mi Trabajo

I went to Guatemala for three weeks this summer to relearn my long-lost Spanish language skills. Last year, when I (rarely) met the parents of my students during parent nights, school activities, and chance encounters at the neighborhood grocery store, I always said the same thing: "Hola, mucho gusto, lo siento pero mi espanol es muy horrible." I am not stupid (other than in Spanish). I know that the reason parents rarely attended school events is because of the big fat language barrier between the home and the school. Almost all of the teachers at my school do not know how to speak Spanish. Almost all of the parents do not know how to speak formal English. Their (fear? embarrassment? resistance?) towards school events matches my (fear! embarrassment! resistance!) towards calling parents at home, scheduling conferences, and making small talk during those chance encounters at Trader Joe's. "Hola, coma esta? Estoy bien, gracias. Si, yo estoy comprando mi comida para la semana . . . Bueno, mucho gusto. Hasta luego." [when, in my head, I'm screaming: Hi, how are you? I'm doing well, thank you. Yep, just buying groceries for the week. I am glad I ran into you; I wanted to talk to you about Edwin's recent behavior in class. As you know, he is such a bright student, his ability to read a passage and know exactly what the author is getting at is really impressive. He is one of the best students in my class at analyzing evidence. But despite his intelligence, he has not been doing any work in class. I am worried about his recent behavior: talking back to the teacher, refusing to complete assignments, distracting other students from working. Have you noticed any change in your son's behavior at home? Yes, I see. Well, I would love to speak to you later at your convenience. Maybe after school on Monday. Would you be able to speak on the phone? Excellent. Good to see you. See you later."]

There are a thousand things I can do differently next year to improve my teaching. I know because I had plenty of time to reflect in Guatemala, by myself and in English, which let's admit, is a medium that presents a heck of a lot more verb options for me than Spanish. Number one on my list of new and improved strategies: communicate with parents. If I could somehow communicate with parents using every euphemism and respectful tense I want to use, I would see positive changes in my classroom. Student motivation would increase and behavioral problems would dissipate. Those ellipses in my conversations with parents would fill with the words that rattle in my brain, lost in translation.

And so I went to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for three weeks of Spanish immersion, living with a host family and taking 25 hours of one-on-one Spanish instruction per week. Can I have that Trader Joe's conversation in Spanish now? Hahaha. Excuse me. Jajaja. No, of course not. I improved my listening skills. I relearned verb tenses: conditional, imperative, reflexive verbs, past progressive, etc. I just did not have enough time to speak in these tenses and really cement them in my mind.

Next year, when I meet the parents of my students, I will be able to say: "Hi, nice to meet you, thank you for coming. My Spanish is not very good, but it's not bad either."

El ano proximo, cuando yo encontrare a los padres de mis estudiantes, yo podria decir: "Hola, mucho gusto. Gracias por venido. Mi espanol no es muy bueno, pero tampoco no es muy malo."

And we'll see what happens.