Building Bridges

A reflection on participation in the Olé Language School
in Querétaro, Mexico from July 4-18, 2015
by Rachel Sartori

​Participating in a language immersion program became a desire of mine over half a dozen years ago.  Sure, I had studied Spanish in high school and college.  Sure, I even had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica for just such a program during college.  But what became clear as I have lived in Phoenix and worked in the Osborn School District, is that now I have not just an opportunity to use the language, but my ability to communicate with others via Spanish will help make connections and develop relational equity that will carry us forward exponentially.

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​Needless to say, when the opportunity to travel to Querétaro, for a 2-week language school experience at Olé, became a possibility, I was tickled with excitement and joy.  As the time of the trip came closer, I wondered about my ability to actually learn Spanish, to begin filling in the gaps with what I know, to communicate my needs with others and be able to understand what was being spoken to me.  And suddenly we were there; the time was upon us.  During this 2-week span I started a journey of building bridges: within myself, between small amounts of Spanish and self-confidence; between my experience as a teacher of language learners and as a language learner myself; and finally as a leader in an educational community.

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Building Bridges within myself
Because I have dabbled in learning Spanish over the course of my life, there is some Spanish in me.  A verb here, some adjectives there, some phrases and expressions over there.  But can I actually use what I know to communicate and understand? 
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I carry with me not just a lack of knowledge, but a lack of confidence in myself resulted in hesitancy to speak in Spanish.  What if I get it wrong?  What if the word I need isn’t there?  What if they just think I’m an idiot? 

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During the first week of my language school experience I found myself saying, “Hey!  I do know some Spanish!  I can understand when others are talking to me!  I just had a full conversation that didn’t include any English!”  Granted, it was still very basic, but what was happening were that the little islands of knowledge (that verb and those adjectives) were finding a way towards each other and lighting up in my brain at the same time, allowing me to use what I already had packed away to communicate.  I was able to realize, by being in a full immersion experience, that I had the tools within me. 

Building Bridges as a Student
So, I’m going through this program and realizing that I’ve got some knowledge already in myself, right?  But I’ve got to build.  I need to increase my knowledge; listen carefully, speak more; learn new verb forms and new vocabulary.  How will that happen?  I step into the shoes of being a student again – and not just any student.  A language learning student. 
            As a teacher, I know all the things that one should do to support language learners, but suddenly I was seeing this from the eyes of a student! 

To be continued....