 | Spanish Classes at SJA ...a Sister Parish Project |  |
| Spanish Classes at SJA ...a Sister Parish Project | |
On Saturday, May 5 the participants in the Spanish classes offered at SJA
bid adios to Chelo Ortega and Jazmin Quiroga, who taught us the basics of
speaking Spanish. Chelo and Jazmin are from Columbia, and are teaching
assistants at the Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion School.
Our journey had started 2 months earlier, when a couple dozen of us met in the Eagan room. After a few introductory remarks in English, we were immersed in Spanish. The first thing we learned was how to introduce ourselves by giving our name, age, and where we lived. After mastering that, we paired up and introduced our partner to the class, adding more information such as marital status and number of children.
The class continued to meet each Saturday for two hours. We learned formal
and informal greetings, the alphabet, how to pronounce vowels correctly,
numbers, colors, and the grammar rules of singular/plural and
masculine/feminine nouns. We learned the parts of the body - from eyebrows
to toes. We figured out how to describe people - a tall man with long
straight hair and a large nose, a slim girl with blue eyes. We learned
occupations, and how to identify family relationships such as grandfather,
cousin, son-in-law.
Chelo and Jazmin gave us homework each week, which was helpful to reinforce the lessons learned. During class, they made it fun to practice what we had learned. We played bingo to learn numbers, and played concentration to learn anatomy. Most weeks we teamed up with other participants to practice a conversation, and then perform it for the class.
After each class, we had the opportunity to continue to learn about Hispanic culture by participating in various activities. One day we went to the Resource Center of the Americas, the next week we lunched at El Burrito Mercado. Another week we watched the movie 'Men with Guns'. We had dance teacher Roberto Colon teach us salsa dancing in Hospitality Hall.
After class one week, we all teamed up to make lunch with Chef Rudolfo
Alverz. We teamed up to bring the ingredients for a specific recipe, and
then learned how to cook each of the dishes on the menu. Of course, eating
the results was as much fun as cooking! Our menu consisted of Arroz
Guatemalteco (Guatemalan Rice), Frijoles Negros (Black Beans), Ensalada De
Remolachas (Beet Salad), Platanos Fritos (Fried Plantains), Guacamole
Guatemalteco (Guatemalan Guacamol) and Enchiladas Guatemaltecas (Guatemalan
Enchiladas). This was the same weekend the alfombra was being prepared, so
when there were too many cooks in the kitchen, we helped cut the alfombra
templates out of cardboard.
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