Tapas & Talking: Community Conversations the Tasty Way

As our students enhance their Spanish speaking skills everyday through our HSSA program, we have fun ways for them to practice after class! It is important that they connect the material from their lessons to their real-life Spanish speaking experience, therefore everyday after their morning lessons with professors, the Program Leaders take them out into the city for an activity called Community Conversations.

In these conversations, the students have an opportunity to practice speaking with locals about the topics they see in the classroom. They have spoken to Alicantinos or Alicantinas (how we call people from Alicante) about places to visit in Alicante, different neighborhoods in the city and their history, music that people like nowadays, their best and worst concerts, favorite movies, talked to an artist about their work, compared traditions from the United States and Spain, and so many more!

They carry out these Community Conversations in many different plazas around the city, in markets, restaurants, at the university and more. With their Program Leader as a guide, our Global Navigators prove to be very brave, as this activity could push some people out of their comfort zone, yet they all do it with grace everyday and see the importance of using what they learn with their teachers and how to apply it to daily life.

This week in particular, the students were taken out for tapas at a restaurant called D’Tablas and as the waiters brought out hearty trays of tapas, our students had the opportunity to practice ordering, ask for recommendations and inquire what each tapa was made up of. They also were able to express any dietary restrictions or allergies that they had to the waiter. 

They had a great time together as well, taking a relaxing moment after classes and before lunch to ‘picotear’ or have some small bites before carrying on with the rest of their day which includes lunch with their host family, perhaps a siesta, and our afternoon activity together!