| Learning Spanish in Colombia |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Matt Landau |
| Friday, 07 May 2010 15:03 |
|
I remember the exact moment I learned the Spanish word for hemorrhoids. I was on a flight to Cartagena sitting next to a Colombian doctor who just finished his residency in Washington DC. He was a young guy, maybe 32 or 33, and when he told me his area of expertise (“rectal disorders”) I thought to mention a product I dreamt up several years back but never quite got around to manufacturing. “It’s a hemorrhoids medication,” I said. “I want to call it…are you ready for this? I want to call it…‘Fire in the Hole.’”
The woman sitting to my right removed her arm from the armrest and leaned into the aisle perhaps requesting a new seat. “Well, I think is good idea,” the doctor said. “Got good name. You got logo?” It was a decent question, one that forced me to realize the shallowness of my invention. But that’s how great things evolve isn’t it? One small idea at a time? For those who want to learn Spanish, two general options tend to present themselves. The first is to sign up at the local college for classes or to purchase lessons on tape. This is what our parents would have done. It is the less adventurous option: in many cases prohibitively expensive, not to mention mind-numbing. The second option is more appealing and that is to move to a Spanish speaking country and immerse oneself. I did this back in college when I moved to Spain. It was a painful process yet on my side was the principle of osmosis. The fact that, without even trying, Spanish would seep into my skin like a noxious gas (only mejor). While Spain is traditionally ‘the place you go to learn Spanish,’ Colombia and the rest of Central/South America are emerging as attractive alternatives primarily due to proximity, low cost of living, and increased security. The backpacker as well as the graduated backpacker has made Colombia his Spanish-learning home for years now, with more and more less-adventurous travelers beginning to jump on board. Learning Spanish in Colombia isn’t only more exciting than a classroom or set of DVDs. It’s also a window into culture-specific Spanish, a way of connecting with a new group of people outside the cartoons on the Habla Ya textbook and picking up phrases the teachers probably never heard of. “Que soda,” some police men in Bogota once said to me as I showed them my new cell phone. “This?” I pointed to my can. “This soda? What kind is it? Huh?” You have to embarrass yourself at least once before you really understand Colombian Spanish. Que soda, as I would learn, is a way of saying “how cool” but it was only after several very confused moments that this became clear (considering it’s also my way of saying “what soda?”) I cannot tell you exactly where I learned the basics in Spanish as they were imprecisely spread out over a number of years in school. And therein lies the flaw. The word hemorroides is one that I use now regularly and que soda is something engrained in my skin. I remember where I learned them. It’s not as if Rosetta Stone couldn’t offer that kind of personal touch. It’s just that learning them the hard way in Colombia is far more fun. |
