Español

Learning a new language is an interesting journey, especially when you are learning the specifics of the way a particular language is spoken in a particular area of a particular country during every day life. Here are a few of my observations.

Acá
When I was learning Spanish, I learned that the word "aqui" meant "here" (literally the place here, but also many of the other uses the word "here" has). In Peru, however, the word "acá" or "over here" is used most of the time instead.

Ahorita
The word "ahora" means "now". "Ahora" is used here, but "ahorita" is used more often, which specifies "right now". Apparently this term is very Peruvian, and not really used elsewhere. I have been expected to do a lot of things here "ahorita", without much warning or time to get ready. :)

Tranquilo/a
The word “tranquilo” is used here quite frequently. It seemed strange at first, because in the US we use the word calm a lot, but tranquil is pretty much reserved for things like pristine mountain lakes. “Tranquilo”, or “tranquila” for the feminine, is used here both as an adjective and as a command. For example, “Acá es más tranquila de Lima” or “Here it is more calm/quiet than Lima“, “El es un hombre tranquilo” or “He’s a laid back guy“, or “¡Tranquila!” or “Calm down!”.

Rico/a
Literally “rico” means a rich person, or sometimes an expensive thing. However, it can also be used to describe delicious or tasty food. Food is rarely described here as being good, delicious, really good, okay, bad-tasting, or anything else, but simply as (emphatically) “¡Es rico!” as (a little doubtfully) “Si, es rico…” or rarely as “No, no es rico.”

Bien
One of the Spanish words that most English-speakers know is “bien” or “good”. It took me a while to figure out that here, it more often means “very”. I kept getting confused and wondering if I was hearing things correctly when I heard things like “bien feo” or “good/very ugly”, “bien bonita” or “good/very pretty”, and “bien frio” or “good/very cold”.

Bastante
In a similar manner, "bastante" as I learned it and as it is written in the dictionary means "enough". I kept getting confused when my host sisters asked me if I had "bastante tarea" or "enough homework". Eventually I realized that "bastante" is used more often to signify "a lot" or even "too much". Hence, this past week I have indeed had "bastante tarea"!

Claro
One of my favorites. The term "claro" or "clearly/of course/that´s right" is used in Perú pretty much as it is used elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, and it is used fairly often. It always makes me feel like a bit of a genius when I am making a statement or confirming the answer to a question, and I get the response of "¡Claro!" spoken quite emphatically, like I have made a great revelation.

I have also found myself forgetting a lot of English words. I will be talking about something in Spanish, going along just fine, when I will get stuck on a somewhat uncommon word. Then, I will rack my brain trying to figure out the word in English, with the hopes that they will recognize the word in English, it will sound very similar in Spanish, or remembering the word in English will help me describe it in Spanish. At least once a day (and usually more), either in my Spanish class or at home with my host family, I will sit there for about 30 seconds trying to think of a word. Sometimes I eventually think of it, but a lot of times I just end up saying the equivalent of “Oh, I don’t know, anyway…” in Spanish.

Overall, I feel like my Spanish is coming along pretty well. I can now understand almost everything my host family says (at least if I am paying attention), compared with only the basics at first. My speaking ability is improving, but more slowly. I can convey pretty much anything I need to, but I know I will have some of the verbs conjugated incorrectly (it’s hard to think of conjugations quickly while you are trying to speak!), I will have to improvise some terms, and I will have to supplement with gestures or facial expressions.

Today, we got moved to our new language groups. At the very beginning, I was put into the intermediate low group (level 4 out of 10). Friday, we had our second round of interviews, and today I found out that I had advanced to the intermediate medium group. I feel like both of those placements were a little bit on the low side, but I get a somewhat flustered and stumble over some things when I get put on the spot speaking Spanish. Plus, a level of only intermediate medium is required to be placed at a site. Now that I have officially reached that level, while I still have a lot of room for improvement, I don’t have to stress out about my language ability.