Spring 2004 Story Contest - 3rd Place Winner
Nicole Tobin
Guanajuato Summer 2004
My experience as a foreign student in Guanajuato, Mexico was wonderful. I feel that the program greatly helped improve my Spanish language capabilities and my understanding of the Mexican culture, which were my two main goals for my trip. Because I plan to be a teacher, and hopefully a teacher of English as a Second Language, understanding cultures different than my own, understanding the process of second language acquisition and being able to have a basic knowledge of how foreign languages function in comparison to English are all important skills for me to learn. I feel that I accomplished great strides in these areas during my 7 weeks in Mexico.
My language skills were strong before I came, but only in an academic setting. I could discuss assignments, grammar and short readings well, but had a difficult time holding up conversations or understanding Spanish-speakers when they addressed me. Once again, as a teacher, I knew that knowing the colloquial and conversational side of Spanish would help me to reach the (probably) young students that would be in my class. Being functional in the “real” spoken language of the United States’ largest minority group will help me to reach students as friends and peers in language-learning, but also will provide me with relevant comparisons between languages that can help to clarify meanings, differences and similarities for students by giving them a reference point from their own language.
After living in Guanajuato, with my great family - Juan, Blanca, and Jaqueline - and living, eating, playing and learning together 100% in Spanish, I have greatly increased my ability to converse and function well within the language. I feel confident enough in my capabilities in Spanish that now I attend a Spanish conversation club and am taking an upper level Spanish Literature class!
Living within Mexican culture also gave me some interesting perspectives on both the United States and on Mexico. My “father” was a recent graduate of business school in Mexico, and he gave me insight into the poor state of the economy in Mexico, and the lack of opportunity that exists for its citizens. We had in-depth conversations about the pros and cons, as well as motivations for and payoffs for, working as an illegal alien in the U.S. It was very interesting to hear an informed Mexican opinion on one of the hot topics in the U.S. today.
This same man also was very interested in speaking about the pros and cons of Americanization/globalization in Mexico. When I arrived in Mexico, I was surprised to find Mexico a strange mix of modern and traditional- and it was interesting to investigate what cultural traditions the Mexicans still retained and which were being changed by Mexico’s increasing participation in the global/tourist/American economy. Having thought Mexico would be all tradition and uninfluenced by globalization, I considered the modernization as a loss of Mexican identity and culture. Yet upon hearing Juan’s ideas, I see that the movement towards globalization can also be seen as a positive change. The larger chain stores make better products more affordable. The big businesses employ many people. The U.S. and other countries have many products or companies that fill a need for Mexico. This take on globalization, from someone other than an American, was very interesting. These changes are not ending Mexican culture, but allowing it to continue to function in the dynamic world today. Culture is always changing, and I think I am beginning to understand that change is not always a bad thing.
The experiences, interactions and learning situations that I was allowed to have by participating in the Guanajuato summer program provided me with a wonderful few weeks of language and cultural training. The language and communication skills I have learned, the newfound understanding of the United States’ largest minority culture and the additional respect I have for students studying in a second language will serve me well in my future career as a teacher.