¡Hola! Me llamo Miku.

Soy de Japon. Tengo una clase de español en GCC, y la clase es muy divertida. Afortunadamente, mi profesora Elizabeth es muy simpática, servicial y bonitaJ La clase es un poco difícil para mí, porque estudio español con inglés. ¡Pero, me gusta mucho la clase de español!

¡Gracias Elizabeth!

This semester I am taking SPA 101. Learning Spanish has been one of my dreams since high school, so I am really enjoying my Spanish class! There are many great professors at GCC, and I am currently taking Spanish with Elizabeth, who is counted among them!

How fun and valuable is learning Spanish in Elizabeth’s class?

I am having fun in every Spanish class. In the Spanish class, my professor, Elizabeth, teaches us by playing games and working in groups. She always tries to use Spanish as much as possible, so we can all practice listening to Spanish. Also, to memorize vocabulary, it is important to speak with people rather than just writing. We try to speak Spanish as much as possible with playing games, so I think her class is very effective, helpful, and also a lot of fun. She always welcomes questions, so after class, I ask questions and also we talk about our cultures. She has lived in Europe before, so she tells all of us interesting things about her experiences in Europe, too. It is really a fun and valuable time for me to talk about different cultures.

Learning a third language VS. a second language

As I am a Japanese student, my mother language is Japanese. My second language is English, and now my third language is Spanish. It is a new challenge for me to learn Spanish from English. Learning a third language is very different from learning a second language. It was not what I expected. Spanish and English are similar to each other, because they both have a formal alphabet, so it is difficult for me to keep up with American students. Because I’m not used to reading the alphabet, I can’t read quickly like the American students. Also, some Spanish words are really similar to English, so other students can understand the word even if we have not learned it yet. That is why I need more time than Americans to review and prepare for the next class. However, I also have an advantage to learning a third language. As I have been learning English for a long time, I am getting used to learning other languages, and I understand the best ways for me to learn Spanish. Even though I need more time to prepare, I do not feel that it is too difficult to learn Spanish, because Elizabeth will help me!

Thanks to my nice professor, Elizabeth, I enjoy every Spanish class, and learn Spanish effectively even though I am not used to learning with English, and it is difficult to keep up with the class. GCC offers more Spanish classes, and I think other Spanish professors are also nice and helpful just like Elizabeth! So why not take a Spanish class at GCC?

This blog was contributed by GCC Student Miku Ishikawa.